Mari Luz Olier

Mari Luz Olier is a Spanish actress who played Matilde on Barrio Sésamo, Spain's co-production of Sesame Street from 1983 to 1987. She was also heard in several dubs of Muppet or Jim Henson's Creature Shop projects, starting with the 1980s dub of Los Fraguel (as some of the Doozers) as well as El Cuentacuentos (as the Queen and Lucky's mother in "The Luck Child") and Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story (as Countess Wilhelmina). 
Olier began her career as an actress in 1974, with an episode of the TV series Novela, where she played opposite veteran actor Manuel Alexandre. That same year, she debuted in movies with Antonio Mercero's Don Juan, an adaptation of José Zorrilla's play.
In 1980, Olier began what would become a successful career as a dubbing actress, playing roles in such films as Fame, Glory, and the re-dubbed version for Anatomy of a Murder (1959). She remained prolific as a voice actress, although initially only dubbing minor characters ("Woman in Trafalgar Square" in An American Werewolf in London; "Girl at Chuck Full O'Nuts" in Escape from New York; and "Stillman's girlfriend" in Stripes, all of them in 1981). She would have a chance to dub named characters from 1982 onwards, in Porky's and in the Spanish dub of the American soap opera Dynasty (as Leslie Carrington).
At the same time, she appeared on-camera on the children's TV series La Cometa Blanca from 1981 to 1983.
From 1983 to 1987, Olier only appeared on Barrio Sésamo playing Matilde, the owner of the "horchatería." However, she continued with her work as dubbing actress, with movies such as To Have or To Have Not, Fanny and Alexander (playing Alexander in both the movie and also the spin-off series), Federico Fellini's Amarcord or dubbing Virginia Madsen in Class. She dubbed Maud Adams in Nairobi, a teacher in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the recurring role of Emma Channing for the first six seasons of Falcon Crest.
In 1987, Olier began working outside her usual dubbing roles for movies and series. Although she dubbed several voices in Stephen King's Creepshow 2, and episodic characters for MacGyver, she also began working in programs targeted at younger audiences, as one of the main characters on the animated series Maple Town, as well as her work on Los Fraguel. She continued with mainstream movies (Catherine O'Hara in Beetlejuice and Gina Gershon in Cocktail), TV series (Susan Dey on L.A. Law) and re-dubbing of classic movies (Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley in The Bride of Frankenstein).
In Roger Corman's 1990 film Frankenstein Unbound, she again dubbed Mary Shelley (this time portrayed by Bridget Fonda). She also became one of the usual dubbers for Stockard Channing (Bitter Moon, Six Degrees of Separation) and Kathy Baker (Picket Fences and 13 Going On 30). 
She became a dubbing director in 1992, initially only with series such as Picket Fences or Home Improvement. She directed the dub of Threesome (1994), and then worked as both director and editor, first in series (Boy Meets World, 1995) and afterwards in movies such as The Crucible (1996, where she also dubbed Joan Allen). 
She has since directed the dubbing of the movies The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) and Shine (1999) as well as TV series such as Malcolm in the Middle.
She dubbed Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, is one of the usual dubbers for Vanessa Redgrave (especially on the TV series Nip/Tuck), and dubbed Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies.
Returning to the on-camera world, she guest starred on an episode of the 2004 TV series Hospital Central, as Gloria, the mother of Eva Méndez, in the episode "Amor de Madre."
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Category:International Sesame Street Actors
Category:International Voice Actors