Laura Alves(1921-1986)

Laura Alves and the Portuguese people: a love story that lasted for over three decades. A book has been devoted to her, a documentary has been made about her and there is even a street in Lisbon named after her. It must be said that her success was not usurped in any way: Laura's talents were indeed precocious (she started treading the boards as of age nine) and versatile (she could act, sing and dance to perfection). Her breakthrough appearance was in the 1941 operetta "Lisbon 1900". Her success was such that she was hired - and acclaimed - in many more operettas and revues. Which does not mean that she was not at ease in more serious dramas - not to say tragedies - by Tennessee Williams or William Shakespeare, to name only the most famous. Her career on the silver screen is more modest, only a dozen films, but she is remembered for having been António Silva's screen daughter three times, first in The Tyrant Father (1941), second as the foolish Celeste in The Courtyard of the Ballads (1942) and finally in Perdigão Queiroga's unusual social comedy Sonhar é Fácil (1951). Oddly enough, six years later, she found herself... married to her former 'father' in Perdeu-se um Marido (1957). Silva was 70 while she was only 35! Laura Alves decided to retired in 1982 and unfortunately passed away much too soon, at the age of 58.