Actress China Zorrilla dies at 92

Uruguayan actress China Zorrilla has died, aged 92. The beloved star was hospitalised in Montevideo, Uruguay on Sunday (14Sep14) with a respiratory problem. She passed away on Wednesday (17Sep14).
Zorrilla grew up in Paris and earned a British Council scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in her 20s. She made her stage debut in French playwright Paul Claudel’s The Tidings Brought To Mary and headed back to her homeland, where she became an acclaimed actress in film and television, and was a stand-out member of the National Comedy of Uruguay, where she worked at the Solis Theatre.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, she appeared in a number of stage productions, including Tartuffe, The Seagull, Our Town and Plaza Suite, as well as plays by Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and others.
Zorrilla’s love for the theatre also spawned her own acting company, the TCM (Teatro Ciudad de Montevideo), which she co-founded with actor Enrique Guarnero and writer Antonio Larreta.
She briefly lived in New York City between 1964 and 1966, working as a French teacher and Broadway secretary, but moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina where she lived for over 35 years.
She starred in films such as Un guapo del 900, La Mafia, Darse cuenta, Tocar el Cielo and Elsa y Fred, and appeared in episodes of telenovelas including Los Roldan, Son Amores, Enamorarte and Ricos y Famosos.
Over the past few years, Zorrilla has received numerous international awards and distinctions, including the Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur (France), the Orden de Mayo (Argentina) and the Orden Gabriela Mistral (Chile).
In 2012, Zorrilla’s illustrious career was celebrated in conjunction with her 90th birthday at the Cervantes National Theater of Buenos Aires. A gala marked her official retirement from the stage.
She returned to her hometown of Montevideo last year (13).