The actress María Golajovski Zaira, better known as América Alonso, passed away this Sunday, May 15, at the age of 86.
The artist of Russian parents born in the former Yugoslavia emigrated to Venezuela in 1948 and occupied the country’s screens for more than half a century. She participated in plays, soap operas and movies.
One of his most memorable roles was in the film Crab de Román Chalbaud.
“Communism killed my father, it is extremely difficult for me to talk regarding the experience of losing my father. I was alone with my dad when they went to look for him, and there we stayed, mom and I alone, ”Alonso said on one occasion, according to words collected on the blog The Endearables.
Upon his arrival in the country, he recalled that together with his mother he lived through the horrors of World War II, including his time in the concentration camps on September 18, 1948.
His theatrical debut was in 1952 with Our Natacha by Alejandro Casona. He also worked at the People’s Theater. Later, he applied his acting skills to the National Television of Venezuela and participated in the launch of Radio Caracas Television in 1953. His first contract was for 800 bolívares per month.
On RCTV they recommended that she change her María for America, for the continent that welcomed her, and her Yugoslav surname for that of the dancer Alicia Alonso, according to the aforementioned blog.
Her first marriage in 1959 was to Mario Bertoul. Roberto and Alejandro Bertoul were born from the relationship. “Today they are professionals, one lives in Miami and the other in Santiago de Chile. They have already made me a grandmother four times and that encourages me to continue living because they are adorable girls and devoted to their studies.”
Then she was married for a while to Daniel Farías. Both devoted themselves completely to theatrical art, relying on their close friend Carlos Giménez.
América Alonso lived with her children in the city of Miami, but she never separated herself from the land that saw her shine. When she was in Caracas she collaborated with director Daniel Uribe Osío. “He rides and I take care of the actors and actresses. This work is wonderful, precisely when the Venezuelan theater lost the war or hit rock bottom in the 90s due to the death of a valuable group of theater people”.