Remembering Edith Gonzalez: The actress' most iconic telenovela roles

Edith González was one of the best actresses to have been brought to us by Mexican television. She began her acting career as a child and later appeared in telenovelas – leaving a mark due to the charismatic characters she often played.

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She risked switching up her roles and demonstrated how as a villain, she could also make the stars of the show suffer. Leonela Villareal, Joselyn Rivas, Bárbara Guaimarán and La Extranjera Excéntrica (the eccentric foreigner), are the evil women the actress reincarnated. All these characters have remained in the memory of her fans and have marked her career. To honor her trajectory, we have gathered a round-up of her most iconic roles.

In 1991, Edith gave life to Leonela Villarreal in Rosa Salvaje – one of the most memorable roles from her beginnings. From an early age, Edith became attracted to acting. Her mother took her to watch a live TV show where one of the producers saw her sitting in the audience and offered her a role in the film Les Miserables. She was only five years old.

In 1993, the Mexican star played one of the iconic characters that marked her career. Mónica de Altamira was a leading role in the periodic love story of Corazon Salvaje where starred alongside the late actor Eduardo Palomo. Her appearance in the telenovela catapulted the actress' career. 

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Since her rise to fame in the early 80s, Edith continued to avidly star in soap operas and her career was only becoming more and more successful. Thanks to her character of Esperanza Gamboa Martel in the drama Nunca Te Olvidaré, the Mexican actress reaped another success and marked her career with her stellar performance.

Within this recount of villains played by the Monterrey native, also comes Doña Bárbara – a strong-willed woman who resents life and has a strong rejection towards men. The character of this astute, brave and manipulative woman, who didn’t even love her own daughter, placed Edith among the most remembered villains of all time.

Seventeen years ago, the telenovela Salomé (2001) became very popular in Mexico and throughout Latin America. The story of a cabaret star in a very dangerous neighborhood in the middle of Mexico City became a challenge for Edith González, who achieved an excellent performance by combining two of her passions: acting and dancing.

Although her character as Elena Tejero in Aventurera doesn’t belong on the small screen, no one can deny that Edith seized the role for many years, triumphing throughout Mexico, the U.S. and Central America. Once more the actress demonstrated her talent for dancing and her sensuality up on the stage.

In 2010, Edith made the decision to accept a job offer at TV Azteca, Televisa's main rival, for which she had worked for the past 30 years. TV Azteca offered her a contract that the blonde could not refuse. Her first leading role at her new home was in the soap opera Cielo Rojo where she played the main character, Alma Durán de Encinas.

After two years of recovering from her health, Edith returned to t.v., this time to play an eccentric and bold foreigner who falls in love with the protagonist of the telenovela Tres Familias of TV Azteca. This was her most recent appearance on the screen.