Amelia Bence

Amelia Bence (born María Amelia Batvinik; 13 November 1914 – 8 February 2016) was an Argentine film actress and one of the divas of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema during the 1930s and 1950s. Born to Belarusian Jewish immigrants, Bence began her career at a young age, studying with Alfonsina Storni at the Lavardén Children's Theater and with Mecha Quintana at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación (National Conservatory of Music and Speech). She made her film debut in 1933, in only the second sound film of Argentina, Dancing, by Luis Moglia Barth. Bence's acting in La guerra gaucha (1942), one of the most important films in the history of Argentine cinema, gave her recognition and earned her leading role offers. She starred in films such as Los ojos más lindos del mundo (1943), Todo un hombre, Camino del infierno (1946), A sangre fría (1947), La otra y yo (1949) and Danza del fuego (1949), garnering the Best Actress award from the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences for Todo un hombre, A sangre fría and Danza del fuego. Bence also won the Silver Condor Award for Best Actress for Lauracha (1946), and her work was acknowledged with awards in Spain, Cuba, and the United States throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Bence married Spanish actor Alberto Closas in 1950, and after their divorce in 1955 she was in a relationship with Osvaldo Cattone in the 1960s. From 1952 to 1954, Bence was contracted by Reforma Films to film two movies in Mexico and earned high praise for her starring role in Alfonsina (1957), which was selected as the Argentine entry for the Berlin International Film Festival and won her an award from the Argentina Film Academy. She developed an extensive theater career in the 1960s, starring in works like "La dama del trébol", "Así es la vida", "Maribel y la extraña familia" and "El proceso de Mary Duggan".