Margarita Xirgu Subirá ( ; 18 June 1888 – 25 April 1969) was a Spanish stage actor, who was greatly popular throughout her country and Latin America. A friend of the poet Federico García Lorca, she was forced into exile during Francisco Franco's Francoist Spain, but continued her work in the United States. Notable plays in which she appeared include Como tú me deseas, La casa de Bernarda Alba, and Mariana Pineda.
An opera, Ainadamar, by the composer Osvaldo Golijov and playwright David Henry Hwang, based on Xirgu's life and her association with Lorca, was premiered in 2003. A recording of the work released in 2006 on the Deutsche Grammophon label (Catalog #642902) won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best Opera Recording.
In 1934, she played the mermaid in La sirena varada by Alejandro Casona. She starred in the early film version of García Lorca's Bodas de sangre, filmed in February–March 1938, the only film version of a García Lorca play to star an actress who was a personal friend of the author and who had appeared in his works onstage. It is Ms. Xirgu's only sound film, and it has never been shown on American television or released on video. It was first shown on Argentine television in January 1966.
A biography of Xirgu was written by Catalan author . In 2018, the New York Times published a belated obituary for her.
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