Lidia Esperanza Magaz Jaime

Television, radio, and film actress, Cuban-Venezuelan.

She arrived in Venezuela in the 1950s, where she became the leading actress and participated in several telenovelas such as "Esmeralda", La zulianita, Una muchacha llamada Milagros, Querida mamá, Lucecita, Peregrina, De mujer a mujer, La revancha, Pasionaria, La señorita Elena, Rosario, Mundo de fieras, Alejandra, Doña Bárbara, Mariana de la noche, Los amores de Anita Peña, Lejana como el viento, La inolvidable and Muñeca de trapo, Toda una dama, and in the youth series A Todo Corazón and Así es la Vida. Her last appearance was in the telenovela Natalia del Mar on Venevisión.

A Venezuelan man stole Esperanza's heart and she followed him to Caracas. Esperanza arrived in Venezuela in 1953 following her sweetheart. She was a recognized actress in her native Cuba and Antillean magazines that reviewed her success reached Venezuela. In one of them her future husband saw her and sent her a letter. Mrs. Navas pulls out an album and shows the photo in question to explain the love at first sight: "look how beautiful I was", she says while showing herself in shorts and high-heeled sandals.

The romance was conducted by correspondence, until "he came to see the Caribbean Series in February, which was when we saw each other. We got married in December". She married "by proxy" since the fiancé could not go to Cuba: his mother was ill. "He sent a friend in his name, a married man with children signed for him at the registry". Three days later he arrived in Caracas, on December 24, 1953. "Christmas, newly married and in a foreign country. I didn't know anyone, only him", she recalls.

She lived in Los Pomelos for over 36 years, because a friend convinced her to. "I lived in Quinta Crespo because I worked at RCTV. I would rehearse, go home to rest and return for the live broadcast. But América Alonso told me they were selling a plot very cheaply a little above El Cafetal. She had one and that way we would be neighbors".

She bought the house –which she named San Lázaro, as she is devoted to this saint– and personalized it: a terrace, a garden and a patio with flowers, a kiosk for barbecues and family gatherings. When she arrived in El Cafetal, Santa Paula, Los Naranjos, nor Plaza Las Américas existed. "There was a space there that on Sundays was used for flying remote-controlled planes. Couples would come with their children, it was very nice", she says nostalgically. But she is also pleased with the area's improvements. "It's wonderful to have a pharmacy nearby and varied stores. Before the closest one was at Centro Comercial Caurimare", she explained.

Grandmother Esperanza knew that on weekends her grandchildren and her son would keep her company. "They come to wash the cars, to bathe the dog, to spend time. My grandson Guillermo sometimes comes only to lie in the hammock on the terrace or shows up with his friends to visit me", she narrates sweetly with a certain air of complicity. She has another daughter and another grandson, but they live in Austin, Texas, and she sees them less frequently.

San Lázaro is the refuge that Esperanza has built over years of effort and where she lives with her household assistant. The house feels a bit empty because her husband died 16 months ago. "Of old age. He decided not to move anymore and, well, the muscles atrophy. Simply one afternoon he died in his wheelchair", she says calmly.

She, on the other hand, is all vitality. She doesn't wear glasses and reads the small print of the newspaper, goes up and down the stairs, drives, runs errands, and remains ready for any recordings that may be necessary. She also meets with friends to play cards. "Telefunken, twice a week. There are 8 or 9 of us. But if it's a birthday or another celebration, we set up three game tables", she specifies.

Talking with Mrs. Esperanza Magaz is listening to a first-person account of the history of Venezuelan television. Although she forgets some dates and places, she doesn't forget faces. "This is Doris (Wells) husband, here is Orangel Delfín –do you know who he is?–, this photo is from when Yolanda Méndez and I danced on De fiesta con Venevisión, this one is with Rafael Briceño a December before I got married", she points out while leafing through one of three thick albums in which she keeps graphic memories.

Very young faces of Joaquín Riviera and Caridad Canelón alternate with more familiar ones: her grandson Guillermo's high school graduation, her son next to the Christmas tree, the dog Bongo, a colored image with her husband. And a photo that rivals anything Vivian Leight or Rita Hayworth had. "Age takes its toll, but I was beautiful", she says mischievously.

Her talent is what lawyers would call "something public and notorious": in the sight of several generations of Venezuelans (and citizens of many other nations in which her telenovelas are broadcast), Esperanza Magaz has developed many roles. "I like to play ragged women, simple women. You don't have to spend so many hours in makeup", says the grandmother of the legendary Kassandra with a smile, who confesses that we found her all dolled up because she was coming from the dentist: "I always prefer comfort".

She has also enchanted radio novel listeners. That's how her career started and she has returned to this medium. "Now I do some short novels for El universo del espectáculo; I'm generally the narrator, but I do everything".

She knows she is a star, and she remembers it every time she goes out. They shout at her in the street, and she greets them calmly. "I say 'my love' to everyone, because sometimes I don't remember names. Other times they themselves tell me 'you don't know me, but I loved your role in that telenovela'. And when I go to the channels it's very pleasant. The co-workers are unique. I miss them".

The actress returns to RCTV as they have already offered her a role in the new drama, but she will also be seen in cinema because she has already filmed the movie Señor Presidente. Meanwhile she chooses her wardrobe for her next public appearance: her granddaughter Lorena's high school graduation.

Magaz became a full-fledged radio novel actress. She made her leap to television in successful humorous and dramatic programs. It is perhaps her character of Dorinda in "Peregrina" and "Kassandra" (She reprised it in two productions) the most successful and nationally and internationally recognized work in her career, highlighted in a brief biography by Daniel Ferrer.

Her talent is unquestionable and she has shared it in productions such as; "Toda una dama", "Amantes", "Lejana como el viento", "Muñeca de trapo", "A todo corazón", "La inolvidable", "Los amores de Aniña Peña", "Mundo de Fiera", "Pasionaria", "La revancha", "De mujer a mujer", "Querida mamá" "Rafaela", "La Zulianita", "Mariana de la Noche", "Una muchacha llamada Milagros" and "Esmeralda" have been part of her professional record. She has also excelled in national theater and cinema with major productions.

Esperanza Magaz died at the Santa Sofía clinic on May 6, 2013 from cancer, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, at the age of 91.