Lolita Torres, 72; Singer, Leading Actress From Argentina’s Golden Era

Lolita Torres, 72, a singer and one of the top actresses from Argentina’s golden era of cinema, died Saturday in a Buenos Aires hospital of complications from a lung infection. She had suffered from rheumatoid fever for more than a decade.

Born Beatriz Mariana Torres, she began singing at age 11, performing Spanish folk songs in a leading Buenos Aires theater. Adopting the first name of the fictional young heroine Lolita, she went on to record such hits as “Te lo juro yo (I Swear It to You).”

But Torres was best known to her countrymen for her film career. From 1944 until her retirement in 1972, she acted in 17 films alongside some of Latin America’s best-known actors. She worked at locations on both sides of the Atlantic, filming in Colombia, Mexico, the Soviet Union and Spain.

Last month, Torres was named a “special citizen” by Buenos Aires. After her death, former Argentine President Carlos Menem called her “one of the greatest of all time.”