Miroslava Stern
Miroslava Šternová Beková (26 February – 9 March 1955), known professionally as Miroslava Stern, was a Czechoslovak-born Mexican film actress who appeared in thirty two films. Biography. Born Miroslava Šternová Beková in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Miroslava moved to Mexico as a child with her mother and adoptive Jewish father in 1941, seeking to escape war in their native country. After winning a national beauty contest, Miroslava began to study acting. She worked steadily in films produced in Mexico, from 1946 to 1955, as well as three Hollywood films during that period. Miroslava filmed "Ensayo de un crimen" ("Rehearsal for  a Crime") in 1955, directed by Luis Buñuel. On March 9 of that year, soon after filming ended (the film was released in May), Miroslava committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Her body was found lying outstretched over her bed, she had a portrait of bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín in one hand. Actress Katy Jurado said she was one of the first to find the body. According to Jurado, the picture that Miroslava had between her hands was of Mexican comedian Cantinflas, but the artistic manager Fanny Schatz exchanged the photo for that of the Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel  Dominguín. Another source states that her body was found by actress Ninón Sevilla. Miroslava's friends stated her suicide was due to unrequited love for Dominguín, who had recently married Italian actress Lucia Bosè. Others claimed that her unrequited love was for Cantinflas. Despite any evidence to support it, a rumor persisted that she died in a plane crash when traveling with Mexican businessman Jorge Pasquel, the day before her suicide. In his 1983 autobiography, "Mon dernier soupir" ("My Last Breath"), Buñuel calls the cremation of Miroslava's following her suicide ironic, when compared to a scene in "Ensayo de  un crimen", her last film, in which the protagonist cremates a wax reproduction of her character. Her life is the subject of a short story by Guadalupe Loaeza, which was adapted by Alejandro Pelayo for his 1992 Mexican film called "Miroslava", starring Arielle Dombasle.