Miroslava

Portrayed by Arielle Dombasle in the 1993 biopic Miroslava (1993).

Born in the pre-war Prague, young Miroslava Sternova (or simply Miroslava, as she was known in her film career) was brought to Mexico by her parents in the late 30s, leaving her childhood, her native Czechoslovakia and her beloved grandma. After winning a beauty contest in Mexico City, Miroslava spent some time in Los Angeles studying acting. Because her European features, and her native accent, she hardly found roles other than mysterious women or foreign beauties. After a standard career, she was offered a role in which will become her last and most remembered film: Luis Buñuel's The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955). Soon after the final wrap of this film, Miroslava committed suicide (apparently because a love deception). In a macabre coincidence, the premiere of Ensayo de un crimen, in which a wax statue of her is incinerated, coincided with her own cremation in a Mexican graveyard.

Once lit up the cover of a 1950 LIFE magazine cover.

Married a struggling actor in 1945 but divorced him quickly when she found out he was a closet homosexual.

Her first suicide attempt came in 1942 when the US soldier she planned to marry was killed in action.

Adopted daughter of a physician, she and her family were at one time interned in a concentration camp after they fled their native Czechoslovakia in 1939. They were Jewish, she was not. They sought refuge in the Scandinavian countries before emigrating to Mexico in 1941.