Marisa Paredes, an acclaimed Spanish actor who achieved international fame by starring in many films by director Pedro Almodovar, has died at 78, Spain’s film academy said on Tuesday. Paredes started acting at 14 and had appeared in more than 75 movies during her career, including Almodovar’s “All About My Mother”, “The Flower of my Secret”, and “High Heels”, earning the moniker of “Almodovar’s girl”. “Spanish cinema is left without one of its most iconic actresses, Marisa Paredes,” the academy said in a statement. “Strong, ambivalent, heartbroken, passionate, enigmatic and ultimately very human women made up the acting work of the woman from Madrid,” it added.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that he was “devastated” by the death of Paredes, “one of the most important actresses our country has produced”. “Her presence in cinema and theatre and her commitment to democracy will be an example for future generations. A heartfelt hug to her family and loved ones. Thank you, Marisa.” Gilles Jacob, former president of the Cannes film festival, paid tribute to Paredes on X for her “calm grace, that gentle cheerfulness that she ignited with one look of her pale eyes”.

Spanish actress Marisa Paredes gestures after receiving an honorary Goya award for her career at the 32nd Goya awards ceremony in Madrid on February 3, 2018.

Spanish actress Marisa Paredes arrives for the screening of the film "Dolor Y Gloria (Pain and Glory)" at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 17, 2019.

Paredes was born in a working-class part of Madrid in 1946 as the country recovered from its devastating 1936-1939 civil war under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. “My vocation was born with me... but it had a lot to do with the neighborhood where I lived,” close to a theatre, she told the film academy. She became a star in Spain, but her international career took off after she first worked with Almodovar in 1983 on “Dark Habits”, beginning a long collaboration. “Marisa placed full confidence in me and gave me everything,” the Oscar-winning director and symbol of post-dictatorship Spain told French newspaper Liberation in 1995.

Having twice previously been nominated for Spain’s Goya national film awards, Paredes was awarded an honorary Goya in 2018. “It’s a matter of taking this trade with total rigor and seriousness. It requires dedication, courage, strength: discouragement must not defeat you,” she told the Academy magazine upon receiving the prize. She also acted in international films such as “Life is Beautiful” by Italian director Roberto Benigni, and in “The Devil’s Backbone” by Mexican Guillermo del Toro. Paredes served as president of the Spanish film academy from 2000 to 2003. — AFP