Fanny Schiller

Fanny Schiller Hernández[1] was born on 3 August 1901 in Mexico City, Mexico. At the age of 20,[2] she began performing in the comedy company of Rosita Arriaga touring around the country. She then worked as a dancer with José María Topete, Consuelo Vivanco, María Conesa, before joining the company of her future mother-in-law, Virginia Fábregas.[3]

She made her starring film debut in the movie El Cristo de oro (The Christ of Gold) with Manuel R. Ojeda in 1926,[4][5] but did not make another film for approximately ten years.[6] Instead, she was touring the country performing in vaudeville and comedy shows.[7] Most of her film work in the 1940s was completed in Mexico.[4] During the 1950s she worked for several periods in Hollywood.[8][9][10]

Schiller was primarily known for character acting, portraying eccentric elderly women. She received a Herald Award for her role in Los cuervos están de luto ("The Crows are in Mourning") (1965)[2] and was nominated four times for an Ariel Award. She won the Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actress twice, in 1947 and 1951.[11]

Schiller was well respected for her work at voice-overs and dubbing; Edmundo Santos, voice director of Disney's releases in Spanish,[12] was so impressed with her that he hired her to dub the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950).[2] She also was the voice of Snapdragon (the purple flower) in Alice in Wonderland, Aunt Sara in Lady and the Tramp, and the fairy Flora in the 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty.[1] In the 1960s she did dubbing work for Hanna-Barbera, and was the voice of Fred Flintstone's mother in the animated series.[2]

In 1955 Schiller ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. This was the first time that women had been eligible to run for office in Mexico and the first time that women in Mexico would be able to participate in a national election, having won the right to vote in 1952. She was defeated, but attended the PRI Civic Day of Mexican Women on April 6, 1955, to celebrate the gains in women's rights.[13]

Shortly before her death, Schiller pushed the National Association of Actors (ANDA) to form nurseries for the children of actresses.[14] Several of her acting friends, including Socorro Avelar, Anita Blanch, Dolores del Río, Irma Dorantes, Gloria Marín, Carmen Montejo, Silvia Pinal, and Amparo Rivelles joined to form a group called 'Rosa Mexicano'.[15][16] The idea was that by establishing a nursery, actresses could continue working, and by establishing a Montessori education system, their children would receive a strong educational foundation. After operating in temporary spaces, the first stones for the formal location were laid on 30 April 1972, shortly after her death.[17]

Schiller came from a family of actors, and her mother was an actress. She married actor Manuel Sánchez-Navarro (1892-1969), son of actress Virginia Fábregas (1871–1950). Their son was actor Manolo Fábregas (1921-1996)[18] and two of Manolo's children are also actors—Mónica Sánchez-Navarro and Rafael Sánchez-Navarro. Schiller died on 26 September 1971 in Mexico City.[19]

• 1947: Cantaclaro, Best Supporting Actress, won Ariel Award[11]
• 1947: Las abandonadas, Best Actress co-performance, nominated for Ariel[11]
• 1948: A media luz, Best Supporting Actress, nominated for Ariel[11]
• 1951: La mujer que yo amé, Best Supporting Actress, won Ariel[11]

• Fanny Schiller at IMDb
• Schiller's Disney Voices