Flor Silvestre

She was born Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla in 1930 in Salamanca, a city in the State of Guanajuato. She inherited her talent from her parents, Jesús Jiménez Cervantes and María de Jesús Chabolla Peña, who were fond of singing mariachi music. Her mother wanted to live in Mexico City, so her father sold everything they owned in Salamanca and moved the family to the nation's capital. She made her debut at the age of 13 singing at the Teatro del Pueblo, a venue located in central Mexico City. Her first radio performances were broadcast by XEFO, Mexico's national radio station.

Journalist and announcer Arturo Blancas suggested she change her stage name from La Soldadera (the title of one of her first songs and a play she was in) to Flor Silvestre (the title of a 1943 Dolores del Rio movie). She then won a singing contest sponsored by XEW, Mexico's most famous radio station, and sang in revues at Teatro Colonial. While performing at the Colonial, a showman offered her a contract to tour with his company. The company toured northern Mexico and later Central and South America.

Flor Silvestre, one of Mexico's greatest recording artists, was also a major star of classic Mexican movies from the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1950, she returned to Mexico City, where the showman gave her a contract to perform at Mexico's finest nightclub, El Patio.

In short time, after producer Gregorio Walerstein invited her to become an actress, she made her film debut in Primero soy mexicano (1950), co-starring Joaquín Pardavé (who also wrote and directed the film) and Luis Aguilar. She also signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records. Her first hits include "Imposible olvidarte", "Pobre corazón", "Que Dios te perdone", and "Guadalajara". Following the success of the aforementioned film, she became one of the new, promising starlets of the '50s cinema of Mexico.

Her most notable films from the 1950s are El bolero de Raquel (1957), with Cantinflas; Pueblo en armas (1959), with Armando Silvestre; and The Soldiers of Pancho Villa (1959), with María Félix.

Co-starred with fellow ranchera singer and actress Rosa de Castilla in five films: El lobo solitario (1952), La justicia del lobo (1952), Vuelve el lobo (1952), La virtud desnuda (1957), and Tan bueno el giro como el colorado (1959).

Visited Hollywood in 1955. Ironically, her husband Antonio Aguilar did not negotiate a role for her in his only American film, The Undefeated (1969), which could have been her American film debut.

Played villainous women in La huella del chacal (1956), Rapto al sol (1956), Los muertos no hablan (1958), Juan sin miedo (1961), and Ánimas Trujano (El hombre importante) (1961).

At the height of her fame and success as a recording artist (1957-1978), Flor sold many copies of her singles and albums in Mexico, Latin America, and the Hispanic communities of California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and New York.

In 1959, she married her recurring co-star Antonio Aguilar.

In the 1960s and 1970s, she became a cinematic symbol of the Mexican Revolution, due to her portrayals of soldaderas in films such as ¡Viva la soldadera! (1960), Lauro Puñales (1969), and Benjamín Argumedo el rebelde (1979).

Her most prominent performance is, arguably, featured in Ismael Rodríguez's Ánimas Trujano (El hombre importante) (1961), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Played twins in Escuela para solteras (1965). Her characters, named Elisa and Felisa, are the love interests of the characters played by Luis Aguilar and Antonio Aguilar, her two most frequent leading men.

After El tragabalas (1966), she never acted in a film without her husband, Antonio Aguilar. She later explained she disliked kissing other actors and decided she would continue her film career only alongside her husband. From then on, her work as an actress was limited to her husband's productions, in which she usually played the female leading role or had a cameo appearance as a singer.

In 1972, she received a nomination for the Miami Golden Sun Award (Premio Sol de Oro de Miami) for Best Female Folk Singer. Other nominees included Lola Beltrán, Maria de Lourdes, Irma Serrano, Lucha Villa, and her sister, La Prieta Linda.

She is mentioned in the novels De noche vienes (1985) by Elena Poniatowska and Ritos de cabaret (1991) by Marcio Veloz Maggiolo.

Recorded her most recent album, Soledad (2010), as a tribute to her late husband.

In 2014, she was honored by the Government of the State of Guanajuato.

Her daughter-in-law Aneliz Álvarez Aguilar (Pepe's wife) planned the 30-minute documentary Flor Silvestre: su destino fue querer (2015), which premiered at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in 2015. Flor and her daughter Marcela Rubiales (who also appeared in the documentary) were present at the film's premiere.

Paternal grandmother of singer Majo Aguilar, daughter of Antonio Aguilar hijo. Majo has paid tribute to her grandmother in her first extended play, Tributo (2017), recording "Cielo rojo" and "Cruz de olvido", two of Flor Silvestre's greatest hits. Majo has also recorded "Mi destino fue quererte", her grandmother's signature song.