# María Luisa Merlo

María Luisa Merlo Colomina (born 6 September 1941) is a Spanish film, theatre and television actress.
Merlo, with more than 60 years of artistic career, has received the prestigious Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
She is the mother of actors Luis Merlo and Amparo Larrañaga [es].

## Early life

Merlo was born in Valencia in 1941. She is the daughter of actors Ismael Merlo Piquer and María Luisa Colomina Domingo.
She was raised following her parents theatre company, as a result, she was able to attend school for less than two years.

## Career

Merlo made her debut as a dancer in the 1957 show Te espero en el Eslava by Luis Escobar Kirkpatrick.
She made her cinema debut in 1959 with José María Forqué in the film De espaldas a la puerta. Other titles followed during the first half of the sixties, such as Siempre es domingo (1961) by Fernando Palacios, Cuidado con las personas formales (1961) by Agustín Palacios, Más bonita que ninguna (1965) by Luis César Amadori, with Rocío Dúrcal, and De cuerpo presente (1967) by Antonio Eceiza.
However, from 1965 onward, she focused more on her theatre and television career.
Since the mid-sixties she has become a regular face on Spanish television, playing dozens of roles in Primera fila, Novela and Estudio 1.
In 1973, she starred alongside her then-husband Carlos Larrañaga in the TVE comedy Compañera te doy. 13 years later, she played alongside her daughter, Amparo Larrañaga, in the series Media naranja; in 2006, she did the same with her son, Luis Merlo, in Aquí no hay quien viva.
She has also appeared in the series Aquí hay negocio (1995), Luna negra (2003), Mis adorable vecinos (2004), Supervillanos (2006), Los Serrano (2008) and Somos cómplices (2009).
At the end of 2007, she participated in the sixth edition of the television contest ¡Mira quién baila!
In July 2013, she starred in the short film Betiko, directed by Arantza Ibarra, together with the actor Javier Pradera in the caves of Zugarramurdi.

## Personal life

Merlo was married to the actor Carlos Larrañaga for 15 years; they separated in 1975 and obtained a divorce in November 1983. Besides a son, Juan Carlos, from Carlos previous marriage, they had three children: Amparo Larrañaga, Luis Merlo and Pedro.
In 1992, she married university professor Michael Kenton, with whom she divorced five years later.
An authoritative biography of Merlo, María Luisa Merlo: Más allá del teatro, was published in 2003 by playwright Pedro Víllora.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 2017 | Es ley de vida | Esperanza | Short film |
| 2008 | Proyecto Dos | | |
| 2003 | El dolor y la lluvia | | Short film |
| 1982 | En septiembre | Ana | |
| 1981 | ¿Por qué no hacemos el amor? | Laura Battoni | |
| 1975 | El adúltero | Marta | |
| 1975 | Un lujo a su alcance | Olga | |
| 1974 | Tocata y fuga de Lolita | Olga | |
| 1972 | Ligue Story | Dr. Somontes | |
| 1967 | De cuerpo presente | just-married woman | |
| 1965 | Más bonita que ninguna | | |
| 1961 | Cuidado con las personas formales | | |
| 1961 | Siempre es domingo | Dorotea / Doris | |
| 1961 | Armas contra la ley | | |
| 1961 | Mi noche de bodas | Ivonne | |
| 1960 | 091 Policía al habla | Teresa Jiménez | |
| 1960 | El cerro de los locos | | |
| 1959 | De espaldas a la puerta | Lucky | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2009 | Somos cómplices | |
| 2008 | Aída | Episode: "Paz la dulce" |
| 2008 | Hospital Central | Episode: "Un entierro, una boda y un cumpleaños" |
| 2008 | Los Serrano | Episode: "El camino recto de Santa Justa" |
| 2006 | Con dos tacones | Episode: "Alabaré a mi señor" |
| 2006 | Supervillanos | |
| 2006 | 7 vidas | Episode: "Nacida el 4 de julio" |
| 2004-2006 | Aquí no hay quien viva | |
| 2004 | Mis adorables vecinos | |
| 2003 | Luna negra | |
| 1995 | Aquí hay negocio | |
| 1989 | Primera función | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | La comedia dramática española | Episode: "Diálogo secreto" |
| 1986 | Media naranja | |
| 1978 | Teatro estudio | Episode: "El bebé furioso" |
| 1977 | Mujeres insólitas | Episode: "La viuda roja" |
| 1975 | Cuentos y leyendas | Episode: "La leyenda del Caballero de Olmedo" |
| 1966–1981 | Estudio 1 | 24 episodes |
| 1974 | Telecomedia | Episode: "Comedia de boulevard" |
| 1974 | El teatro | Episode: "El proceso de Mary Dugan" |
| 1974 | Noche de teatro | Episode: "Cisneros" |
| 1973 | Compañera te doy | episodes |
| 1972 | Siete piezas cortas | Episode: "El chantajista" |
| 1968 | La pequeña comedia | Episode: "Claveles en la oficina" |
| 1966–1981 | Teatro breve | 3 episodes |
| 1966 | Hermenegildo Pérez, para servirle | Episode: "Un marido futuro, muy futuro" |
| 1966 | El tercer rombo | 3 episodes |
| 1965 | Tiempo y hora | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | Confidencias | Episode: "La ilusión de cada uno" |
| 1964 | Escuela de maridos | Episode: "Carácter sí, carácter no" |
| 1964 | Tras la puerta cerrada | Episode: "El ángel negro" |
| 1964–1965 | Primera fila | 7 episodes |
| 1963–1977 | Novela | 13 episodes |

### Theatre

Her career on the stage is marked by the performance of works of all genres, from drama to comedy, including musicals. In 1986 she joined the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico.
| Year | Title | Writer | Note |
| 1957 | Te espero en el Eslava | | |
| 1958 | Ven y ven al Eslava | | |
| 1960 | Diana está comunicando | | |
| 1967 | La tercera palabra | | |
| 1968 | Siete gritos en el mar | | |
| 1968 | El proceso de Mary Dugan | | |
| 1970 | Vidas privadas | | |
| 1971 | Cómo ama la otra mitad | Alan Ayckbourn | |
| 1972 | Pato a la naranja | William Douglas-Home | |
| 1974 | Los peces rojos | | |
| 1977 | Los hijos de Kennedy | Robert Patrick | |
| 1977 | Yo quiero a mi mujer | | |
| 1978 | Lecciones de matrimonio | | |
| 1979 | Alicia en el París de las maravillas | | |
| 1980 | El corto vuelo del gallo | Jaime Salom | With Gemma Cuervo |
| 1984 | No corran que es peor | | Adapted by Juanjo Menéndez |
| 1984 | Diálogo secreto | Antonio Buero Vallejo | With Ismael Merlo |
| 1986 | Los locos de Valencia | Lope de Vega | Directed by Adolfo Marsillach |
| 1987 | Antes que todo es mi dama | Calderón de la Barca | |
| 1991 | Trescientos veintiuno, trescientos veintidós | Ana Diosdado | |
| 1994 | Los bellos durmientes | Antonio Gala | Alongside Amparo Larrañaga |
| 1998 | Odio a Hamlet | Paul Rudnick | |
| 1999 | Ocho mujeres | Robert Thomas | |
| 2000 | La fiebre del heno | Noël Coward | |
| 2003 | El adefesio | Rafael Alberti | |
| 2006 | Yo, Leonor | | |
| 2006-2007 | La ratonera | Agatha Christie | |
| 2007 | Un adulterio casi decente | | With Pedro Civera |
| 2011 | 100 metros cuadrados | Juan Carlos Rubio | |
| 2015 | Cosas de papá y mamá | Alfonso Paso | |
| 2019 | Conversaciones con mamá | Mario Martín Lucas | |

## Awards

In 1967, Merlo was awarded with the Antena de Oro de Televisión Prize. She was awarded the Ercilla Theatre Prize in 2009 for her career in theatre. In 2013, she was awarded the Distinction of the Generalitat Valenciana for Cultural Merit. The Spanish Ministry of Culture awarded Merlo the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2017.