Brilliant again and again: Sandra awaits a return to television where she lived so many joys
“With Francis We fell in love a year after working together. He was 24 years older than me. It was all very magical. Then we got married and separated after a decade. We have had a very, very nice experience. I love your children very much Christian And Franquito. It wasn’t a given that we had our own; We worked a lot…” he recalls Sandra Schmidtone of the members of this musical trio -Smith’s Angels- Inspired by the hit series of the glorious ’70s, Charlie’s Angels, whose protagonists were none other than Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett) and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith).
Unstoppable success: Smith’s Angels swept through as the musical ensemble inspired by the American series
Sandra experiences these moments with deep joy when she chats with her THE NATION. “It’s nice to remember those times. That happens to many people. Not just out of nostalgia but because it was an unforgettable time. Unfortunately there were no social networks like today, because that would have multiplied the success. I experienced the (time) of Palito Ortega when I was very young. I only started professionally with Los Angeles de Smith in the 80s, the creation of Francis, who later became my husband,” she tells of these origins.
“I was 19 years old. Ever since I was a girl, I’ve always prepared myself to work in art. It was also my mother who did this, because everything that she liked to do began to live in me. I went dancing, I studied theater; She was the one who always accompanied me to the castings, she took great care of me. Today, at 86, I still have it and now I’m taking care of it, hahaha,” he describes happily.
Sandro de América and Sandra de Smith: Whether as a dancer or conductor, fate crossed her with the greatest of the scene
Today, at the age of 61Her eyes shine happily when she talks about her beginnings: “Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to act, so I started acting in school… I studied theater. I graduated as a dance teacher when I was 15. My dad built me the conservatory in my own house hahaha. He placed bars, mirrors… and I’ve taught girls since they were three years old. And to the model gymnastics moms. My father’s name was Carlos Badía. In my documents my name is Sandra Mónica Badía. I laugh because when I met Juan Alberto he said to me: ‘Hello little sister’. I jokingly replied: ‘Hello Dad’. coquettebecause he was a few years older than me.
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Singer, dancer, presenter, actress and… employee of a grain company
Her resume says she is a singer, dancer, presenter and actress. Also that he was born in Rosario by accident, although a large part of his family lives there: “My mother is also from Rosario, my father from Catamarca. They met there, but they came to live in Buenos Aires. When they wanted to have me, my mother moved to Rosario because her doctors were there. I’ve always lived in the capital, but I spent all my childhood holidays in Rosario, summer and winter. At the Atlantic Sportmen Club in the Echesortu district. There are my cousins, my aunts, beautiful city, I love it very much for beautiful memories…”.
Argentina, 1985 at the Bafta: Peter Lanzani gave an interview in English and the networks exploded
Although she loved the artistic world, her first job was as a secretary for a grain company. “My father got me it, but I wanted to be an artist. I went through all the agencies and I laugh because this job took me a week because they called me to act in the film El Fausto criollo, where none other than María Valenzuela and Claudio García Satur worked. So I ran away. It was my debut, I was a farmer. I also acted as a guardian angel there. It was a premonition because later I became a member Smith’s Angel. Then I worked on the Tato Bores program. There, two girls told me that Francis wanted to put together a trio simulating Charly’s Los Angeles, but that they sing and dance. I said no. “I’m an actress,” I clarified. And in the end I went with him to the interview and my old man ended up signing a contract because I was underage. That’s where my whole professional story began.”
Francis Smith and his angels (left to right): Sandra and Alicia and Mariel Escola
From Romay, Gilda, Tato and Sapag to Suar, Muscari and the cinema
With time and experience he got the opportunity to drive, something he craved and with the help of Alejandro Romay he touched the sky with his hands. “He called me to kindness on Saturdays; It was my first opportunity with Leonardo Simons, a great experience. Another television moment that shaped my life was when I interviewed Gilda on America’s Musical Saturdays three hours before she died. It was a terrible pain when I found out, I couldn’t believe it,” he says.
The Final Interview: Sandra interviews Gilda, unaware that she would die in a traffic accident hours later
Humor was also a strength that shaped her career: “I worked with Mario Sapag as an actress, that’s what I liked the most. Adrian Suer, with Pol-ka, his producer, called me to do several characters. The first was Poliladron, then Gasoleros, Son Amores y Campeones, where for me I played the character I miss the most, Zulma with Osvaldo Laport’s Divine. It’s been two wonderful years. I was also in Los Roldán”.
Given that, the obvious question is: when will he return to television? “Now everyone has forgotten me on TV, I don’t know why. I’ve returned with Extinct with the Dear Jose Maria Muscari, but I’ve always done theatre. I want to do things that bring me joy, strips, series, films. I loved being part of the movie El Boquete with Valentina Bassi. The last thing I did was Armored, with Luis Ziembrowski, Luciano Cáceres and Gonzalo Urtizberea. Cinema fascinates me.”
Dream come true: Sandra and her mother before going on stage with the play she wrote for them
Now Sandra smiles again, as so often during the conversation. It is that he tells one of the innocent mischief he committed in the artistic field to surprise and delight his mother to be an actress. “A year before the pandemic, we wrote a play with my friend Martín Gómez Márquez, who was an assistant director at Extinguidas. I asked him to involve my old lady to make her want to and fulfill her dream of being on stage. He had suffered a stroke and made a good recovery. The piece we created was called Lo perverso and my mother played one killer nun. We were eleven characters. When the audience came in, we gave them hooded cloaks and we had a lot of fun. We stayed in the Palermo district and at the Multiescena on Corrientes Street. It was wonderful. The play touched on strong themes: violence, rape, murder… Then the pandemic hurt us a lot. I laugh myself to death when my old lady says to me: “How are we going to get the actors to work in a pandemic?”. After the pandemic, we put together a show with Silvia Peyrou called Women’s Experience where we talked about everything. Sex, infidelities, joys, sadness, life itself. We are planning a repeat in Uruguay in March,” he predicts.
His other great love: “He died suddenly, it was difficult for me to get over it”
With Santiago Olmedo, a musician and physical education teacher, he lived, in his own words, another story of extraordinary passion: “I was with him for fifteen years, I loved him very much. He wanted a child and so did I. We tried but I didn’t get pregnant. I wanted to start treatment but we had to travel. He He died suddenly in my house in 2015. I came out of the theater and found him dead of a heart problem at 51, very young. It took me a long time to get over it. We had a production company together. I remember he was in the dressing room and told me his chest hurt. When I left the theater I called him and he didn’t answer. It was a true love, like Francis’s, with which I accompanied him until the last day, beyond the separation. They were both wonderful loves of my life.”
Always smiling: he lived two great loves, he had the pleasure of playing with his mother and at 61 he shines on stage
– She spoke with a certain nostalgia, but very firmly about motherhood …
-Currently and remotely, I confess that I have completely resolved motherhood with Francis’ children. Also, I’m very madraza: of my parents, my partners, my friends, my companions… Being a mother is nothing like giving birth. I don’t see it as a lack or absence.
-And are you ready to live a third great love or close the doors?
-Hahaha. Today I don’t have a partner because I’m difficult, I don’t want to meet anyone (smiles). I have many suitors, but that’s it. I hope that someday the love bug will kick in… I’m having dinner with a doctor who’s divine, a gentleman, but until then, let’s say… Do you understand me?