Andrea Palma (actress)
Andrea Palma was the stage name of Guadalupe Bracho Pérez-Gavilán (16 April 1903 – 11 November 1987), a Mexican actress considered the first major female star of Mexican cinema after the success of La Mujer del Puerto (1934).
Born in Durango to a wealthy family, she was one of eleven children. Her father Julio Bracho Zuloaga owned lands and a textile factory but lost his possessions during the Mexican Revolution. In Mexico City she grew interested in theater, fashion, and hat design. She opened a hat shop called Casa Andrea, and she adopted the name Andrea Palma from a client’s surname.
She spent time in the United States, where she had small roles thanks to relatives like Dolores del Río and Ramón Novarro, and even worked as a hat and makeup consultant for Marlene Dietrich. When she returned to Mexico and acted in La Mujer del Puerto, she became a superstar almost overnight. She later played Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and she returned to Hollywood for two Latin films. In 1943 her brother Julio Bracho directed her in the melodrama Distinto amanecer, and she appeared in several other Mexican films.
In 1948 she acted in Tarzan and the Mermaids. She married Spanish actor Enrique Díaz during a trip to Spain and, as she aged, moved from leading roles to character parts. In the 1950s she starred in two famous Rumberas films with Ninón Sevilla—Aventurera (1950) as a harsh brothel owner and Sensualidad (1951) as a suffering wife—along with other notable titles. She worked with Luis Buñuel in Ensayo de un crimen (1955) and appeared in films with other stars of the era.
From the late 1950s she focused more on television and theater, hosting the popular series La novela semanal for many years. She retired in 1979 due to illness. Her last acting role was in Ángel Guerra (1979), alongside her niece and goddaughter Diana Bracho.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:37 (CET).