MADRID – Spanish actress Pilar Bardem died on Saturday from the effects of a lung disease in a clinic in Madrid. Bardem was 82 years old. Her children reported this in a statement via their social media. Pilar belonged to an important Spanish family of artists.
“We want to share the news that Pilar Bardem, our mother, our example, has passed away, she left in peace, without suffering and surrounded by the love of her family,” her children Carlos, Monica and Javier wrote in a message on Saturday evening. Twitter. Pilar Bardem is the mother of Oscar winner Javier Bardem and sister of the famous filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem.
Pilar Bardem, born in Seville, was the daughter of an important actor couple in Spain in the 20th century. Her three children followed in her footsteps and all three are also actors. Javier Bardem is the most watched of them, also abroad. He won an Oscar for his role as a psychopathic hitman in “No Country for Old Men.”
Pilar Bardem has starred in dozens of films and television series and had a solid career in Spain, where she won a Goya – the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars – for Best Supporting Actor in the film ‘Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto’ (no one speak to us when we are dead) from 1995.
“From her (my mother), I learned that if you’re going to do something, you have to do it very well,” Javier said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais 10 years ago. “I remember her spending all nights over her scripts studying them,” said Javier Bardem.
Activist
Pilar was also known for her political and social activism. With strong progressive opinions, she was active in various matters. In particular, she fought for the improvement of working conditions for actors. She was also part of ‘No a la Guerra’ (no to the war), the motto under which the personalities in the Spanish cultural world expressed their rejection of the Iraq war in 2003.
“She leaves a huge legacy in cinema, theatre and television, but the great Pilar Bardem was above all a defender of equality, freedom and the rights of all,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on his Twitter account.
Pilar Bardem was also the mother-in-law of Spanish actress and Oscar winner Penélope Cruz, who is married to Javier.
