Biography:

Daisy Granados was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on December 9, 1942. She studied drama at La Escuela Nacional de Artes (National Art School) in Cubanacán. Her debut as an actress was in the 1964 production La decision. Granados presented this film at the Cuban film week Cronica Cubana in East Berlin in July 1965. This is probably when East German director Egon Günther met her and decided to cast her as Caroline for his comedy Wenn du groß bist, lieber Adam. The film’s production was stopped by officials and not shown until 1990.

Granados has worked as a leading actress in numerous Cuban films and has become an international film star. She has worked with many acclaimed Cuban directors, including Julio García Espinosa, Humberto Solás, Pastor Vegas and Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón.

For Granados’s performance in Pastor Vega’s Retrato de Teresa, a story about a woman struggling with her family and work responsibilities, she won the award for Best Actress at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival in 1979. The film was also part of the 1981 series New Directors/New Films at MoMA in New York. Granados also played the leading parts in Solas’s most controversial Cuban film, Cecelia, which was set in 1830s Cuba and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. She also played the lead in his Un hombre de exito, which portrayed three decades of Cuban history and politics before the revolution and was nominated for the Golden Prize at the 1987 Moscow International Film Festival.

Daisy Granados was honored with the 2000 Grand Prix for her Exceptional Contribution to Cinematographic Art at the Montréal International Film Festival and the 2007 Cuban National Film Award.