Actresses Silvia Pinal and Sylvia Pasquel announcing that the diva of Mexican cinema’s Golden Age would receive a career star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo by Media and Media/Getty Images)
Within the great artistic families of Mexico, without a doubt, The Pinal dynasty is one of the most popular and recognized. from the matriarch Silvia Pinalher daughters Viridiana Alatriste (deceased), Sylvia Pasquel, Alejandra Guzmán or her granddaughters Stephanie Salas, Frida Sofía, not forgetting her great-granddaughter Michelle Salas, the descendants of the diva from the golden age of Mexican cinema have managed to go on their own.
Growing up in an extended family would mean keeping the doors open to everyone, but also being constantly compared, he realised Sylvia Pasquelwho, by following bad advice and avoiding these problems, decided to change his surnames to make his own name.
Sylvia Elizabeth Banquells Pinal, known artistically as Sylvia Pasquel, is the daughter of Raffael BanquelsActor and director of the so-called Golden Age of Mexican cinema, as well as Mexican film, theater and television entrepreneurs.
When he was 15, Pinal met Banquells, and although he was twice her age, they began a relationship that ended in marriage two years later. However, love was not the first reason for this connection, because the young woman wanted to establish herself as an actress and the closeness of her family prevented her from doing so. Marrying the actor who would give life to the famous “Gutierritos” was her best option. “I think it was a convenience then. I wanted to get out of the yoke. And how did I do that? Married. I left my house as a princess,” he said in an interview with Gustavo Adolfo Infante for his show “The Minute that changed my destiny”.
Luckily for Pinal, her artistic career in cinema began to gain momentum and offers were not long in coming, a situation not shared by her husband, who for lack of work became the actress’s manager, which he would later become Remorse, the protagonist from ‘Viridiana’. “I got married to escape my father’s oppression and it got worse for me; Rafael was extremely jealous and wouldn’t even let me go in the corner.”.
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Despite this, they both conceived a daughter, Sylvia, who was born in 1950. However, Banquell’s constant jealousy, added to the few job offers, eroded the relationship until Pinal filed for divorce two years later, a decision that benefited both their careers: She established herself as an actress in films such as “A Corner Nigh Heaven.” , “La suspechosa” and ventured into theater production with the play “Ring, ring, llama el amor”; For his part, he managed to take part in telenovelas such as “Senda forbidden”, which he also directed, as well as “Teresa”.
The separation of her parents was not a problem for Sylvia in her childhood. “I was born in a house where my parents were famous, they were stars. It wasn’t strange for me to live in a house where there were always artists, directors, musicians, dancers, comedians. I grew up with these people, I grew up on the forums, I got to know the San Angel Inn, the America Studios, I played with the policeman, the makeup artist, the technician, the hairdresser, from Televisa my father did directed and acted there, so I’ve been going to all the Televisa forums, black and white TV since I was a kid,” Pasquel said in an interview with Carlos Alazraki on his YouTube channel.
This world also attracted Sylvia, which her mother didn’t quite like. “My Mom Did So Much For Me To Become An Actress, “You Have To End A Career”so I studied everything except acting, but I studied simultaneous translation, decoration, things that helped me in life, but when my mother realized that I wasn’t going to finish anything, she said, “Start working,” and I did it’s a photonovela with Jorge Rivero”.
Sylvia Pasquel. (Photo by Adrian Monroy/Media and Media/Getty Images)
It was then that His mother Silvia Pinal and producer Ernesto Alonso gave him the idea to change his surname to avoid comparisons with his parents. “At 16 they convince you of everything and you feel the need to have an identity for yourself that you are not compared or related.”
In 1972, when Alonso was producing El Carruaje—a telenovela starring Banquells—he and Pinal made a list to find the most appropriate surname for the aspiring actress. “They have the Pasquel, Balmori, I don’t remember how many more, and oddly enough, the Pasquel, which is my mother’s real name (her father Moisés Pasquel didn’t recognize her), won and she changed my name.”
Proud of her decision because at the time she thought she would build her career on her own now Sylvia Pasquel concedes that she should not have caved in to that suggestion. “I shouldn’t have changed my last name It’s great that you are connected to the most loved people in this country, it’s a pride to be part of such a family!, but of course, when you’re a kid thinking you’re going to bite the world and not realizing that some of the work has already been done for you, you arrive with whatever ‘background’ you want . When you’re on stage you have to prove yourself, you already have a ‘background’”.
And, of course, Pasquel has stood out for her merits: she’s known for her antagonistic roles in Italian Girl Comes to Get Married opposite Angélica María; she was Ricky Martin’s mother in Reach for a Star II; Among many other achievements, he acted in the film “Johnny Chicano” and was part of the production of “The Rocky Horror Show”.
recently reached a Nominated for the Ariel Awards 2022which recognize the best of Mexican cinema in the category Best Actress for her role in The Devil Between the Legs. “Let’s say it’s the culmination of something very cool because this movie is a great movie.”