Blanca de Castejón

Blanca de Castejón (May 13, 1906 – December 26, 1969) was a Puerto Rican actress who is best remembered for her work in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, especially her award-winning supporting role in Escuela de vagabundos. She was born in Comerío, Puerto Rico, and died in Mexico City.

Life and career
Blanca de Castejón Otero was born in Comerío, Puerto Rico, to Rafael Castejón Arnáiz, a telegraph operator, and Josefa Otero Rivera, a housewife. Had a younger sister named Margarita, a dancer.

She made her film debut in El impostor (1931), one of three films she made for Fox's Spanish-language unit. After stops in Mexico City and Havana, where she worked in the theater, Castejón went to Buenos Aires, where she made two feature films: Crimen a las tres (1935, a box-office flop) and Por buen camino (1935).

By the late 1930s she returned to Hollywood and starred in Spanish-language films, notably Mis dos amores (1938), starring the popular Mexican star Tito Guizar, and Los hijos mandan (Gabriel Soria, 1939), with Fernando Soler and Arturo de Córdova. Castejón co-wrote the screenplay of Los hijos mandan and both films were produced by Puerto Rican Rafael Ramos Cobián. The actress was married to Mexican actor Rafael Banquells when she relocated to Mexico City and joined the national film industry, where she made about thirty movies, taking part in what is known as the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Though she initially starred in melodramas like La razón de la culpa (Juan José Ortega, 1943), with Pedro Infante and María Elena Marqués, and Divorciadas (Alejandro Galindo, 1943), with René Cardona and Delia Magaña, Blanca de Castejón became best known for her supporting roles in comedies with popular comedians like Luis Sandrini and Fernando Soler. She won the 1954 Ariel award (Mexico's version of the Oscars) for her supporting role as a ditzy socialite in Escuela de vagabundos (School for Tramps), a very popular remake of the 1938 screwball comedy Merrily We Live, which reunited her with Pedro Infante.

Blanca de Castejón died in Mexico City, in 1969.

Filmography

 * Resurrection (1931)
 * El impostor (1931) - Sandra
 * Esclavas de la moda (1931) - Dora Durke
 * Eran trece (There Were Thirteen) (1931) - Peggy Minchin (credited as Blanca Castejón)
 * Crimen a las tres (1935)
 * Por buen camino (1936)
 * El carnaval del diablo (1936)
 * Mis dos amores (1938) - Rita Santiago
 * Los hijos mandan (1939)
 * Qué hombre tan simpático (1943) - Doña Blanca
 * La razón de la culpa (1943) - María de la Paz
 * Ave sin nido (1943) - Anita de Medina
 * Divorciadas (1943) - Cristina
 * Imprudencia (1944)
 * ¡Ya tengo a mi hijo! (1946) - Ana María
 * Los maridos engañan de 7 a 9 (1946)
 * Yo soy tu padre (1948) - Doña Carmen
 * Cuide a su marido (1950) - Rosario
 * Yo también soy de Jalisco (1950)
 * Nosotras las taquígrafas (1950) - Blanquita
 * Los apuros de mi ahijada (1951) - Doña Carmen Martínez
 * Todos son mis hijos (1951) - Doña María de Salgado
 * Mamá nos quita los novios (1952) - Amadora
 * Prefiero a tu papá (1952) - Anita Adalis
 * Escuela para vagabundos (School for Tramps) (1955) - Emilia de Valverde
 * El gallo colorado (1957)
 * Escuela para suegras (School for Mothers-In-Law) (1958) - Amalia
 * Mientras el cuerpo aguante (1958) - Regina Sarmiento
 * Tres lecciones de amor (1959) - Doña Angustias
 * Vagabundo y millonario (1959) - María de Aguilar
 * Los signos del zodiaco (1963) - Lola Casarini