Lara Molina

Lara Gavin Molina (May 14, 1960 – January 26, 1990) was an American actress, she have her carrer peak at late 1970s and 1980s, Lara was marked by the styles of her characters, sometimes naive and calm, sometimes smart and super-emotional, she became known as the "Representative of Young Adult Women", for embodying on stage the entire essence of women in the post-high school phase, which seeks finding herself now as an adult and being untied from her parents.
She won two Oscars and four Golden Globes, as well as some Emmys for her role in DeeDee World (1974-1978), making her the richest young actress in the world in 1983. She also, from 1979 onwards, began to be a model, in addition to being a choreographer, having already been proven that she herself was the one who performed all the choreography for the film DANCE! (1983), her dancing spirit had already existed since the 9 years old, where she was a dancer in the school theater; Lara died suddenly in January 1990, suffering from a sudden arrhythmic death. Her unpredictable death generated a cultural shock that year, and all the costumes she wore in her films became fashionable. Her younger sister, Karla Molina, was the one who followed through on her commitments after Lara's death, having been embraced as Lara's "heir".
After her death, Lara became a pop icon, and in 1997, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as, in 2000, the Lara Molina Award, a Academy Awards special category for young actresses was created. In 2010, with the death of her father, Edwin, her remains were taken to the city of Downieville, California, where she had lived from 1963 to 1974.
==Early life==
Lara Gavin Molina was born on May 14, 1960, in Hagerman, New Mexico, the eldest daughter of Edwin Gavin and Luiza Molina, she was the only child of the couple to be born in New Mexico, the state in which they met and married. When she was 3 years old, her parents moved to Edwin's hometown of Downiesville, California, where she grew up.
During her school life, the girl stood out a lot in school theater, which meant that she knew from an early age what she wanted in life, a career in acting and dancing. At the age of 14, she was discovered by a talent scout. , who nominated the girl, who was the ideal age to play her first and one of the greatest characters of her career, DeeDee Robertson, in the series DeeDee World, the girl, excited by the opportunity, accepted, and convinced his parents moving to Burbank, California.
==Carrer==
===Early carrer===
Lara began her acting career by playing the protagonist DeeDee Robertson in DeeDee World, the 14-year-old girl, however, began her career being harshly criticized, as she was too young and too new to be a protagonist, Lara did not expect the criticism, but ignored them, as her potential was always emphasized, and she knew that one day she could drown out the critics, which didn't take long to happen, in the interval between the 1st and 2nd season of the series, Lara increased her acting skills, becoming better than she already was, and in season 2, she gave her all as the young and naive high school student. in 1976, the first chance to record came, when the girl auditioned for what would become Cannonball Girl, she auditioned to be the protagonist, however, later, the film's director, Jerry Paris, indicated she auditioned to be the villain, a test in which she excelled, and ended up becoming the provocative and temperamental Tina MacGrummels, in 1977, the film was released, and Lara stood out among the other actors, the actress, however, did not compete to big prizes, as her age did not allow it.
DeeDee Roberts' success earned Lara 2 Emmys in 1978 and 1980 for her performance in the series. With the end of the series, in 1979, the film that served as the "final episode" of the series, A Gift for DeeDee Robertson, was released, and once again Lara stood out, this time receiving a Special Oscar for Best Young Actress for his work on the film.
In 1980, she entered the scene as Jennie Gallagher, in Little Jennie, where her most famous brand came into play, playing young adult women who were still in the process of assimilating to the new reality after finishing high school. In 1980, she entered the scene as Jennie Gallagher, in Little Jennie, where her most famous brand came into play, playing young adult women who were still in the process of assimilating to the new reality after finishing high school. Her performance as Jennie earned her her first Golden Globe, and also marked her essence as an actress. After Jennie, she also acted in the films: Catch Me If Your Hearth Can (1981) and 24U (1982).
===DANCE! and short carrer peak===
In 1983, Lara auditioned to be the protagonist of the film DANCE!, Lara was a great choreographer, and looked for a film that could bring out this side of her, Lara, due to the hype of her image among young people, was accepted easily, and then recorded the film. The work of Lara, who starred alongside Dana Plato, was applauded by the public and critics, especially in the dance scenes, in which the duo Lara and Dana performed exceptionally well. The film became a real hit, and led Lara to win her second Oscar, this time as Best Actress, and also her second Golden Globe as Best Actress in the Musical and Comedy segment. With the success of DANCE!, Lara reached the peak of her career, having made other successful films such as: Robbie 'n' The Urban Gold (1984) and Do Not Dance!. .. If You Are Not Born (1986).
In 1986, she debuted Mommy Are Young Again, where she played Jacqueline Nigel, one day, tired of the same routine of a mother of teenagers, she wants to return to her youth, and ends up returning to her 20s, reuniting with the problems he experienced at that time. In yet another film, Lara repeated her most famous character type, the unemployed young woman with no direction in life, the film earned her a Golden Globe.
===Last works and Nowadays Wild West===
In the last half of the 80s, Lara continued her career at full steam, recording even two films a year, however, in 1988, Lara said she wanted to take a sabbatical from acting to dedicate herself as a model, not the end of her career. The 1980s were the period in which she posed most for essays and magazines. In 1988, Lara acts in Nowadays Wild West, where she plays Rebecca Allison, an actress who films an old west film, but during this period of time, she ends up going crazy, and thinks she is actually a cowgirl. Nowadays Wild West was once again well received by audiences and critics, earning Lara her last Golden Globe. After the film's premiere, Lara stated that she would only finish DANCE! At The Broadway, a non-canonical sequel to DANCE! that only featured Lara and Dana Plato from the 1983 film, DANCE! at the Broadway would be released in February 1989, and after that, which was a box office and critical success, but did not give Lara any major awards, Lara began a planned hiatus from cinema, in order to begin to grow as a model.
===Carrer as model===
Lara posed for her first rehearsals in 1979, but her career as a model reached its peak along with her acting career, Lara posed in total for over 40 magazines, in 1989, Lara decided to take a break from her acting career in order to stabilize her career. As a model, she even have plans to start a series of shoots with her friend Dana Plato, who also used to pose for magazines.
==Death and funeral==
On January 26, 1990, Lara was in her country house on the outskirts of San Diego, California, with some friends and cousins, when she suffered an unexpected cardiac arrest. The cause of her death was diagnosed as a sudden arrhythmic death, an unexpected and inexplicable form of death, which affects sick people and even the healthiest, the actress' death would only be confirmed at night, around 10:00pm. The day after his death, his obituaries appeared in the main celebrity magazines, at 9:00 am, the hospital where his body was located, UC San Diego Medical Center, was packed with journalists and fans at the time his body was taken for the funeral service.
The actress' wake took place at the Nimoy Theater, Los Angeles, with doors open to the press, friends, family, fans and professional colleagues. The wake lasted between January 27th and 30th, with the funeral procession heading towards Hollywood Memorial Park, where she was buried. During the procession, her body was taken to the Resurrection Church, a Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Lara was Catholic due to her maternal influence. From there, the priest also accompanied the procession in prayer. 
The actress's remains were buried in Hollywood Memorial Park until 2010, when her father, Edwin, passed away. After her father's death, one of the actress's wishes was fulfilled, which was to have her remains placed next to those of her parents, so her remains were moved from the cemetery where it was located to the local cemetery in Downieville, a discrete census region in Sierra County, with only approximately 300 inhabitants. Her tomb has become quite profitable for Downieville, as it is the main tourist spot in the region, visited by many movie buffs and fans of the actress' work every year.
==="Inheritance" for Karla Molina===
It is worth noting that, after her death, most of her commitments throughout the year 1990 were passed on to her younger sister, Karla Molina, among them was, for example, dubbing the character Gia in the animated film Huusild and several photo essays, years later, a personal archive would be published by Karla on her Instagram, which was a K7 tape, which contained images of a family lunch, where Lara jokes, watching the first film of the sister, Go Out, John! (1987), where Karla played the protagonist's sister, and says:
Despite the joke, family members point out that Lara was happy to see her younger sister, to whom she was very attached, follow in her same footsteps, and that Lara was a safe haven for Karla in her first years in cinema, so it was only fair that Karla was seen as Lara's "heir" and "successor", in addition to highlighting the physical appearance between both.
===2010 mortal remains leaks===
During the period in which Lara's remains were moved from Los Angeles to Downieville, images of the actress's decomposed skeleton were leaked, the images gained wide reach on the internet, and eventually reached national television, the images generated commotion among many and disgust among others. In response to the leak, Karla Molina asked the state court to launch an investigation into who the leakers were and also for the images to be removed everywhere. 
Karla, when asked about the case in 2014, said:
It was never known who leaked the photos, although there are theories that it could have been one of the exhumers themselves, which was already ruled out in 2010, when the police investigated the cell phones of those responsible for the exhumation.
==Legacy==
Soon after her death, many young women began to wear dresses that imitated her costumes in DANCE!, Mommy Are Young Again and DeeDee. Still in 1990, Time magazine elected Lara as the 9th most influential person of that year, for "having managed, with her death, to promote a new star [Karla] and also become a fashion icon". In 1998, critic Richard Corliss, wrote in an article in Film Comment magazine, that Lara "was in a way a soul still wandering in cinema, her character model (the young woman bewildered with a reality dependent on the job market) is what all young actresses seek, even being sought after by her own sister, Karla, who wants to follow her sister's path as much as possible, but no one has more authority than Lara alone in this type of character, she was the one who popularized it, and the only one worthy of embodying it, and all who try to reach her altar, reveal themselves to be mere subjects".
In 1997, Lara received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, having been honored by family and colleagues in the films in which she acted, even more so, in 2000, a special Oscar award given to young actresses between 18 and 23 years old who became highlights in the films in which they acted were introduced, and their name was chosen to name the award.
In 2004, when interviewed by The Washington Post, Jean-Luc Godard, renowned French-Swiss film producer and critic, cited Lara and said he was "truly amazed" at how her figure still hovers over the female world in cinema, and mainly, "that even in death, she continues a promise of cinema [Sic]", for the simple fact that she "stopped acting early". In 2015, on what would be, if Lara were alive, her 55th birthday, the actress was honored during a episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that featured her sister, with a hologram that showed her doing her musical numbers during the film DANCE!.
In 2022, in a Time article, during an interview with director Greta Gerwig, she stated her admiration for Lara's achievements:
===Molina Arts Institute===
Main article: Molina Arts InstituteThe Molina Arts Institute was founded in 2007, by Lara's brothers (Karla, León and Edwin Jr.), with her as the institute's patron, MAI offers, in addition to studies, from pre-school to higher education, its main center, the college of performing arts, music, dance, writing and painting. In 2018, it was estimated that the institute had 7,000 students, being a private institution with non-profit purposes, the institute is considered one of the 10 best arts teaching foundations in the USA. The institute is also a film production company, producing films with the aim of launching new talents. Regarding the initiative to found the institute, Karla stated in 2015:
==Controversies==
===Sexual option===
Lara was the only one of Luiza and Edwin's four children to not have had any romantic relationship, with many family members saying that she died without ever having seriously kissed anyone, excluding the kisses she had to give on stage in her films, and also that she died a virgin. This raised many questions about Lara's sexual orientation, with many people theorizing that she chose to be systematically asexual.
Others, however, said that her love abstinence came from a religious oath, saying that she was, in her private life, an extremely Catholic woman and devoted to Mary, so it was said that in exchange for success in her new career, when she was 15 years, she promised not to have romantic relationships. Asked about this during an interview in 2017, Karla refuted both ideas:
===Lesbian affair with Dana Plato rumor===
If some say that Lara decided to be systematically asexual, others would say that Lara did have a relationship with someone, but not a straight relationship, but rather a lesbian relationship with her partner in DANCE!, the actress Dana Plato. It is a fact that Lara and Dana began a strong and unbreakable friendship while acting in DANCE!, including projects for a possible duo between the two, and a TV series, thus marking the return of both to acting in series, these projects were interrupted by Lara's death.
However, the rumor comes from an interview that Dana Plato gave in 1994, where he stated that being close to Lara was something "intense" and "relieving", the speech generated a lot of buzz years later, with Dana's death, with the interview being resurrected, years later, in 2006, the first traces of the internet rumor emerged, with a blog article entitled "The Romance between Dana Plato and Lara Molina", the myth of the romance soon gained widespread space on an internet that was still becoming popular, and thus gained proportions until it reached relevant newspapers.
In 2012, when he heard about the rumor, Lara's brother, León, responded in an interview with a radio station:
===Accusations of xenophobia against Koreans===
In 2004, a 47-year-old man called Lee Park appeared, he claimed to have worked as one of the cleaners on the set of DANCE!, and accused Lara of xenophobia against the Korean people, the man claimed that Lara often called him "Kim" and said that Koreans were nothing more than mere xeroxes of the Japanese, in addition, he also claimed that, when he killed an insect in the studio, she would offer it to him, as she said that "Koreans love to eat cockroaches fries", relating to the country's poverty at the time. Lee even went further, and said that she often covered her nose when she got close to him, as she hated "the smell of fried dogs".
In the same interview in which Karla refuted rumors about her sister's sexuality, she also refuted this rumor:
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1977	Cannonball Girl 	Tina MacGrummels 	
1979	A Gift for DeeDee Robertson 	Denise "DeeDee" Robertson 	
1980	Little Jennie 	Jennifer "Jennie" Gallagher	
1981	Catch Me If Your Hearth Can 	Louise Downey 	
1982	24U 	Olivia Martinez 	
1982	Just Fly With Class 	Mrs. Collette Campfield 	Uncredited; Voice role
1983	DANCE! 	Charleigh Rose Simpson 	
1984	Robbie 'n' The Urban Gold 	Elisa "Elly" Humphrey 	
1984	The Dufresnes Magical Christmas 	Mrs. Coraline Banfield 	Made-for-television film
1985	Cannonball Girl 2 	Tina MacGrummels 	Photo in Amy's album
1985	The Belle 	Lisa Powell 	
1986	Do Not Dance!... If You Are Not Born 	Claire Megan Sheylleu 	
1986	Mommy Are Young Again 	Jacqueline Nigel 	
1987	Dorothea 	Dorothea Mazzeo 	
1987	Just Fly With Class: The Undergraduation	Mrs. Collette Campfield 	
1988	Nowadays Wild West 	Rebecca Allison 	
1989	DANCE! At The Broadway 	Charleigh Rose Simpson 	
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1974-78	DeeDee World	Denise "DeeDee" Robertson	
==Accolades==
Accolade 	No. of times winned	Year won 	Role
Oscar 	3 	1980, 1984, 1990 	DeeDee Robertson Charleigh Rose Simpson Honorary
Golden Globe	5 	1981, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991 	Jennie Galagher Charleigh Rose Simpson Jacqueline Nigel Rebecca Allison Honorary
Emmy Award 	2 	1978, 1979 	DeeDee Robertson
BAFTA Award 	6 	1980, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1988 , 1989	DeeDee Robertson Jennie Galagher Charleigh Rose Simpson Jacqueline Nigel Dorothea Mazzeo Mrs. Collette Campfield Rebecca Allison