Carmen Maura

Descendant of the conservative Spanish politician Antonio Maura, Carmen lead an art gallery and appeared in various roles in night- clubs. With _Tigres de papel (1977)_ (qv) she had her first successful appearance on the movie screen and thereafter she worked at the theatre, the movies and in TV productions. Although she played dramatic roles, too, her most important genre has always been the comedy, e.g. _Coarse Salt (1984)_ (qv), _Sé infiel y no mires con quién (1985)_ (qv) or _Dear Nanny (1986)_ (qv). She has worked regularly with the Spanish director 'Pedro Almodóvar' (qv), from the film _Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980)_ (qv) (taking in _Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)_ (qv) for which she was awarded the European Film Award "Felix" as best actress) to, currently _Volver (2006)_ (qv).::Volker Boehm