Legend has it that, among the testamentary provisions, William Phelps Tucker ordered his successors to keep on the payroll of Radio Caracas Televisión, for life, three first actors: Thomás Henríquez, Amalia Pérez Díaz and Carlos Márquez, who developed all their careers television channels in the ranks of the Quinta Crespo channel. The wish was fulfilled, although with some nuance. Henríquez and Pérez Díaz collected fifteen and last until the end of their days in 2002 and 2003, respectively. However, Márquez’s situation was conditioned by the plant’s cessation of operations, which he survived for nine years until his death in 2016.
The regal actor, however, was able to say goodbye to the public in the same place where his artistic journey began: on stage, celebrating six decades of career. His face and his stamp are sown in the memory of those who love the dramatic stories that have happened on the small screen for years. At the 95th anniversary of his birth, there is a review of his life.
Carlos Márquez Capecchi was born on April 19, 1926 in Guanoco, a town in Sucre state. At age 10 he moved to Caracas, where he discovered his passion for the performing arts. He obtained the corresponding degree from the Central University of Venezuela, after having started his training at the Teatro del Ateneo.
In the mid-1940s he met the Argentine actress Juana Sujo, with whom he undertook a life project that encompassed the personal and the professional. Together they founded the Venezuelan Theater Society and the Los Caobos Theater. The couple stayed together until a devastating cancer caused the death of the artist in 1961. Later, he married the second actress Dolores Beltrán.
After making his professional debut in the play Los muertos sin sepultura presented at the Municipal Theater, Márquez was hired as the protagonist of the Italian-Venezuelan production Tierra Magica.
With the arrival of television, the actor was incorporated into the staff of the Bárcenas channel. His first appearances were in the Camay space, which sponsored stellar soap operas. They followed such important titles as La tirana, La ursurpadora, La doña, Raquel, Doña Bárbara, Estefanía, Luisana mía, What happened to Jacqueline ?, La fiera, Loenela, Topacio, Mi gorda bella, Estrambótica Anastasia and Lobre como el viento, his last work done in 2009.
Three years later, he decided to return to the stage with the monologue Unforgettable, written by José Gabriel Núñez. It was his farewell to the stage.
Weather in Catirrucia
Many were the characters played by Carlos Márquez during his 60-year career. The most remembered is Eleazar Meléndez, the patriarch who played in La fiera, written by Julio César Mármol, with Doris Wells and José Bardina as protagonists. In history, he referred to the rebel gallant as catirrucia, a term incorporated into the daily life of Venezuelans and that marked him until his death, on March 26, 2016.
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