Rosaura Revueltas was born into an artistic family in Durango, Mexico. She
studied acting and ballet in Mexico City and made her theatrical debut
in "La Deconocida de Arras" (1946). Her Mexican films included "Islas
Marias" and "Muchachas de Uniforme" ("Girls in Uniform"), both made in
1950. From 1957 to 1960 she worked with Bertolt Brecht's Berliner
Ensemble in Germany and performed in Cuba during her senior years.
In "Salt of the Earth" (1954), Ms. Revueltas played the starring role of Esperanza Quintero, the wife of a Mexican American zinc worker, who becomes involved in the struggle for workers' and women's rights during a violent strike. Salt of the Earth was completed, even after powerful figures in Hollywood and the government began attacking it. Members of the miners' union received death threats from local vigilantes, who set fire to the union's headquarters in Silver City, New Mexico. Toward the end of filming, Ms. Revueltas was arrested by immigration officials and charged with entering the United States illegally. She was deported to Mexico and the film makers had to use a double for the remainder of the movie. Once in Mexico, she was banned from acting in Hollywood and never performed in another American film again. She passed away at her home in Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City at the age of 85.
