Elsa Cárdenas(I)

Prolific Mexican leading actress, born Elsa Cardenas Renteria in Tijuana to Victor Cardenas and Hortencia Renteria. On screen from 1954, Elsa has acted in numerous Mexican films and telenovelas. Her first international exposure was through the independently produced movieThe Brave One (1956),shot in Mexico and distributed in the U.S. by RKO. On the strength of her performance she was then chosen by the directorGeorge Stevensto play the part of a Mexican girl in the filmGiant (1956),based onEdna Ferber's novel (her role had originally been earmarked for the Italian actressPier Angeli). Elsa later recounted that acting alongsideElizabeth Taylor,Rock HudsonandJames Deanhad been the most memorable experience of her professional life. She subsequently co-starred withElvis PresleyinFun in Acapulco (1963).According to interviews, she was briefly in a relationship with 'The King' four years before his marriage to Priscilla. Elsa later married Houston-based oilman Guy Preston Patton (1918-66), a union which ended in divorce.

Elsa had featured roles in several other American films:For the Love of Mike (1960),Of Love and Desire (1963)andSam Peckinpah's seminal westernThe Wild Bunch (1969).During her stint in Hollywood between 1959 and 1960, she also portrayed assorted senoritas and Indian girls on such TV westerns asBlack Saddle (1959),Have Gun - Will Travel (1957)andPony Express (1959).Elsa Cardenas remained gainfully employed on Mexican television until her retirement from acting in 2015. In 1992, she qualified with a Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.