A Georgetown University graduate was featured at the Madrid Book Fair for his novel and biography of Spanish actress and singer Sara Montiel.

Israel Rolón-Barada’s (GRD ’90) “Sara Montiel,” named after the famed Spanish star, was featured at the annual fair held in Madrid. Rolón-Barada was inspired to write the biography following the death of Montiel, a friend and idol of his, in 2013.

Montiel was an international icon whose career spanned from the 1940s to the 1960s, becoming one of the highest paid stars of Spanish cinema. Growing up under the regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco when there were few opportunities for young women, Montiel was able to begin her career as an actress at a young age, starring in her first movie, “Te Quiero Para Mí” (“I Want You for Myself”), in 1944 when she was only 16 years old.

She and her mother later moved to Mexico, where she starred in more Spanish-language films, before she moved to Hollywood, where she was introduced to American moviegoers on the big screen. Today she is considered one of the most important Spanish actresses of all time. 

Rolón-Barada, first met Montiel over the phone to invite her to speak at an event for the 2012 Modern Languages Conference held in Philadelphia.

A couple days later, they met on a small island off the coast of Spain where Montiel was vacationing, and the two instantly clicked.

“We just became friends,” Rolón-Barada said in an interview with The Hoya. 

“When I arrived, she was laughing, non-stop. I was like, what is going on? She laughing at me? ‘No, no,’ she says. ‘I cannot understand how we were talking over the telephone 48 hours ago, and now you’re here,’” he added. 

Rolón-Barada and Montiel traveled across the United States together for the conference, visiting Chicago and Cincinnati. 

“We had such a beautiful and wonderful time. You can imagine,” Rolón-Barada said. 

“These places were full with people outside waiting five [hours] to get inside because they wanted to see Sara,” Rolón-Barada added. 

The pair were planning to attend their second conference together when Montiel met an untimely death. 

“The impact was so hard on me, so difficult to deal with. I lost my friend,” Rolón-Barada said. “Then I decided to start on this project.” 

Immediately, Rolón-Barada said he began to write down all the moments he had with Montiel, coming up with 10 pages he could use to write his book. These pages became the introduction to his book and notes that can be found in the book, according to Rolón-Barada.

To fill in the gaps, Rolón-Barada said he interviewed family members and other close friends of Montiel and traveled to Spain, California and Brazil to complete those interviews. Although Montiel has two adopted children, Rolón-Barada said they both declined to be interviewed for his book.

Rolón-Barada said a favorite story of Montiel, which he writes about in his book, is the story of when she was arrested in New York after she created a scene at a restaurant that refused to serve her friend and American singer Billie Holiday because she was Black. 

Rolón-Barada said Montiel was also a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights during her lifetime, at times conflicting with Franco over his homophobic policies in Spain. For example, she supported men who went to the cinema dressed as her in drag at a time when it was illegal to do so in Spain.

“She’s a good example, for young generations, for future generations,” Rolón-Barada said. 

Rolón-Barada said that despite her fame, Montiel was down to earth and treated everyone like a friend. 

“She was a real person,” Rolón-Barada said. 

“She was really humble. She was not snobbish or hard to catch. She was totally a real person,” Rolón-Barada added.