November 8, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Leslie Unger — (310) 247-3000
                          lunger@oscars.org

Academy to Pay Tribute to
Mexican Actress Lupita Tovar

Lupita Tovar

Beverly Hills, CA — Actress Lupita Tovar will be the subject of a salute by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday, December 7, at 8 p.m., at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The evening’s host, film historian and author Bob Dickson, will conduct an onstage discussion with Tovar, to be followed by the premiere screening of a new print of “Santa,” starring Tovar as the title character, in Spanish with English subtitles. The event coincides with the Academy’s ongoing exhibition “Made in Mexico: The Legacy of Mexican Cinema.”

Tovar was born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1910. She came to Hollywood as a teenager to pursue acting, first appearing in silent films for the Fox studio. At Universal she starred in the Spanish-language versions of “The Cat Creeps” (“La Voluntad del muerto,” 1930) and “Dracula” (1931), filmed at night on the same sets used during the day for the English-language versions of these films. Over the course of her career, Tovar appeared in more than 30 films before retiring from acting in 1945.

Tovar married Czech émigré producer and later agent Paul Kohner in 1932, beginning a Hollywood film dynasty that includes their son, producer Pancho Kohner; their daughter, Academy Award®-nominated actress Susan Kohner (“Imitation of Life,” 1959); and their grandsons, the writer-director team of Paul and Chris Weitz.

In “Santa,” the first popular sound film produced in Mexico, Tovar stars as an innocent small-town girl whose life is ruined when she is abandoned by her soldier lover. A sensation when it was released in Mexico in 1932, the film is now considered a classic.

The new print of “Santa” is from the Academy Film Archive and the Filmoteca de la UNAM.

Following the discussion and screening, attendees will have the opportunity to view the “Made in Mexico” exhibition in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery, during special viewing hours for this evening only.

Tickets for the Academy’s Salute to Lupita Tovar, featuring “Santa,” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members. They may be purchased in advance at the Academy during regular business hours, by mail, or on the night of the event, if still available, when the doors open at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, please call (310) 247-3600.

Regular viewing hours for “Made in Mexico” are Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. Please note that the Academy will be closed November 23–26 for Thanksgiving. The exhibition continues through December 17.

Editors: Please note that downloadable images are available at http://photos.oscars.org/.

# # #
©A.M.P.A.S.®
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972
(310) 247-3000
www.oscars.org
publicity@oscars.org