Biography

Maria del Pilar Cordero (March 1, 1910 – August 2, 1998), better known as Mapy Cortés, was a Puerto Rican actress who acted in many films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Cortés appeared in the U.S. State Department propaganda short film "Mexican Moods". In 1942, Cortés made her only foray into Hollywood cinema, playing a singer in the RKO wartime musical comedy Seven Days' Leave. Her eponymous character is engaged to Victor Mature's soldier character before he falls in love with a socialite played by Lucille Ball. After filming Seven Days Leave, Mapy Cortés returned to Mexico City and played roles in contemporary romantic comedies and nostalgia musicals set during the Mexican Belle Époque. The 1945 Mapy Cortés vehicle La pícara Susana / Mischievous Susana[5] marked the directorial debut of her husband Fernando. After Fernando died, Mapy returned to Puerto Rico and led a relatively quiet life. In 1998 she died at her home of a heart attack. She was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico.