Rosa de Castilla

María Victoria Ledesma Cuevas (born 30 May 1931), known by her stage name Rosa de Castilla ([ˈrosa ðe kasˈtiʎa]), is a Mexican singer and actress. She is noted as one of the great folkloric leading ladies of the "golden age" of Mexican cinema. In the musical field, she has toured the world singing in countries such as Israel.

Acting

De Castilla made her film debut in Julián Soler's Los tres alegres compadres (1952), starring Jorge Negrete, Pedro Armendáriz, and Andrés Soler.

As the second female lead after Flor Silvestre, she co-starred a western trilogy: El lobo solitario, La justicia del lobo, and Vuelve el lobo (all in 1952).

In 1954, she was nominated for an Ariel Award for Best Actress in a Minor Role for Rogelio A. González's Tal para cual (1953). She starred as the female lead in two films in Eastmancolor: Ismael Rodríguez's Mexican Revolution drama Tierra de hombres (1956), her first color film, and Jaime Salvador's musical comedy ¡Aquí están los aguilares! (1957). Other notable films she appeared in during the late 1950s are the Mexiscope productions of Yo... el aventurero (1959) and Tan bueno el giro como el colorado (1959). She played the ranchera singer wife of Demetrio González in Dos corazones y un cielo (1959).

In the 1960s, she starred in mostly westerns or comedies such as Héroe a la fuerza (1964), co-starring Eulalio González and Sara García.

By the early 1970s, her career had waned, though she made some comebacks in the late 1990s.

Singing

De Castilla sang ranchera songs in most of her films. In 1956, Capitol Records released her album The Sounds of Old Mexico, which also featured Antonio Aguilar, Luis Pérez Meza, and Rosita Quintana. In 1967, she signed with RCA Víctor; her records were "beginning to sell" in Australia that same year.