An article in The Daily Herald of 8th September 1951 – refers to the death of The Queen of Technicolor Maria Montez. It seems that she stepped into a bath of very hot water, collapsed and died. Her sister found her dead in her flat in Paris and despite strenuous efforts to revive her she sadly passed away. Friends had said that she had previously complained of heart trouble but this was thought not to be serious.
She was born in the Dominican Republic and had come to Hollywood
Maria Montez in a famous promotional still for Cobra Woman.
Maria Montez: Technicolor Queen. Born in the Dominican Republic, Montez (born the tongue-twisting Maria Africa Vidal de Santo Silas) was the star of WWII escapist fantasies. She was cast in a series of movies that are today celebrated as the pinnacle of Technicolor.
In 1942 she was cast in her first leading role in Arabian Nights a film that was nominated for 4 Oscars and it also had the honour of being the first Universal film to use the 3 strip Technicolor process, thus establishing Maria Montez on the silver screen.
In Cobra Woman from 1944 Maria Montez stars in a dual role as the good twin and the evil twin on a forbidden island. The glamour and spectacle of the film is captured in the famous Cobra Dance:
Place your comment