Isabel Sarli

Isabel Sarli

Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli (born 9 July 1935), nicknamed la Coca, is a retired Argentine actress, and glamour model. Sarli is a considered a cultural icon and the quintessential sex symbol in her home country.

Born Hilda Isabel Sarli Gorrindo Tito in Concordia, Entre Ríos Province, Sarli was nicknamed "Coca Sarli", which comes from either her Coke-bottle-shaped figure, or from her addiction to the soft drink.

She was discovered by filmmaker Armando Bó after she became Miss Argentina in 1955. She never married him as he remained married to his first wife. She was his mistress for life and became the star of his films, starting with El Trueno entre las hojas in 1956. The film has since become a cult classic as the first Argentine feature-length with full frontal nudity in it. She went on to become an international Latin American star, filming in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, and films like Fuego (1969) and Fiebre (1970) reached the American and European markets.

Bó later insisted in casting her in naturalistic melodramas. After his death in 1981, Isabel Sarli retired from the cinema industry altogether but came back in the mid-nineties for Jorge Polaco's picaresque film, La Dama Regresa (1996). The film was inspired largely on her life and public image, serving as an homage of sorts. In 2009 she teamed once more with Polaco in Arroz con leche for a bit part.

On 12 October 2012, it was reported that that Argentine President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, named Sarli as Argentine Ambassador of Popular Culure. The Boletin Oficial de la Republica Argentina, under Decree 1876/2012, stated:

Isabel Sarli is considered a true representative of the national culture, as much for her acting skills in films as for being considered a popular icon of her day and an emblematic figure of Argentine cinema.