Raquel Rodrigo

Rodrigo was born to Spanish parents Abdón Rodríguez Santos and Marina López Rosabal from Galicia. The family later returned to Spain in 1921 and after completing his secondary studies he began studying medicine. However, he abandoned his career to dedicate himself fully to the theatre.^[2]

Considered a popular leading actress in the period of the Second Spanish Republic, she debuted in cinema in 1932 with Carceleras, by José Buchs, the first film spoken in Spain, which premiered at the Opera de Madrid cinema on October 10, 1932.^[3] The enormous popularity at the time was largely due to the character of Susana that she played in the film La verbena de la Paloma (1935), by Benito Perojo, along with Miguel Ligero Rodríguez. The El barbero de Sevilla (1936), also by Perojo, was shot at the UFA Studios in Berlin.^[4]