Luana Alcañiz

Luana Alcañiz was born on May 08, 1906 in Spain. Luana Alcañiz's big-screen debut came with Del mismo barro directed by David Howard in 1930. Luana Alcañiz is known for Doctor Zhivago directed by David Lean, Omar Sharif stars as Yuri and Julie Christie as Lara. The upcoming new movie Luana Alcañiz plays is Doctor Zhivago which will be released on Dec 31, 1965.

Green-eyed Spanish-born actress and dancer, born Lucrecia Ana Úbeda Pubillones. Her parents took her to New York at the age of two but she spent much of her early childhood back in Spain, followed by two years in a Catholic convent in Havana, Cuba. Aged sixteen, she returned to New York with her parents to perform in vaudeville. She quickly made a name for herself as "La Flor de España", singing and dancing at the Roxy Theatre and in nightclubs. Now calling herself Luana Alcañiz, she formed a partnership with the dancer Juan Puerta who subsequently became her husband. In 1930, she signed a contract with Fox and appeared in a leading role with Humphrey Bogart and Victor McLaglen in the south-of-the-border adventure A Devil with Women (1930). She was afterwards starred in several American-made Spanish language pictures released by Warner Brothers/First National and Columbia, including La dama atrevida (1931) and El pasado acusa (1931). By the early 40's, Luana worked as a freelance actress making pictures in Cuba (El romance del palmar (1938)), Venezuela (Alma llanera (1945)) and Mexico (Sol y sombra (1946)). By 1947, she had moved back to Spain and set up her permanent residence in Madrid. She made a few more films as a supporting actress until the early 60's, briefly coming out of retirement for a small role in Le docteur Jivago (1965), her scenes filmed on a set built just outside Madrid.