{{short description|Mexican actress and singer (born 1936)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Lucha Villa | birth_name = Luz Elena Ruiz Bejarano | other_names = "La Grandota de Camargo"<br>"La Ronca de Chihuahua"<br>"La Reina de los Palenques" | image = Lucha Villa en 1961 (cropped).jpg | caption = Villa in 1961 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|11|30}} | birth_place = Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico | occupation = {{flatlist| *Singer *actress }} | module = {{Infobox musical artist | embed = yes | background = solo_singer | instruments = Vocals | genre = Regional Mexican | years_active = 1960–1997 | label = Musart }} }} '''Luz Elena Ruiz Bejarano''' (born November 30, 1936),<ref name="Burr"/> more commonly known by her stage name '''Lucha Villa''', is a Mexican singer and actress.
==Early life== Born in Santa Rosalía de Camargo, Chihuahua, Luz Elena Ruiz Bejarano was given her pseudonym "Lucha Villa" by television producer Luis G. Dillon<ref name="Country Music Television">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/villa_lucha/bio.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041028024253/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/villa_lucha/bio.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 28, 2004 |title=Lucha Villa Bio |publisher=Country Music Television |date=n.d.|accessdate=November 20, 2015}}</ref> ("Lucha" a hypocorism for Luz Elena, and "Villa" in honor of Pancho Villa). She has been a constant presence in popular music and film since the early 1960s. Villa's early hits included "Media vuelta", by José Alfredo Jiménez, as well as "La cruz del cielo" and "Viva quien sabe querer"<ref name="Burr">{{Cite book|last=Burr|first=Ramiro|year=1999|title=The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music|location=New York|publisher=Billboard Books|isbn=0-8230-7691-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/billboardguideto00burr}}</ref>
In the 1970s, Lucha Villa traveled to Denver, Colorado to perform for a benefit for the Crusade for Justice, youth programs and school.
In 1996, Villa, along with Lola Beltrán and Amalia Mendoza, recorded the studio album, ''Disco del Siglo: Las Tres Señoras'', produced by Juan Gabriel,<ref name="Burr"/> acknowledging their lasting contributions to music fanatics throughout Mexico and Latin America.
==Acting career== She appeared in several films during the 1950s and early 1960s, received her first starring role in ''El gallo de oro'' (1964),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0897628/bio|title=Lucha Villa : Biography|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=November 20, 2015}}</ref> and starred in ''Me cansé de rogarle'', a musical with Jiménez and recording star Marco Antonio Muñiz. She has appeared in some fifty films and won an Ariel Award for Best Actress (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar) for ''Mecánica nacional'' (1973).<ref name="Country Music Television"/>
==Personal life== thumb|upright|A statue of Villa She fell into a coma because of complications during surgery in August 1997, but recovered after a long stay in hospital,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/lucha-villa/505902 |title=Lucha Villa Biography – ARTISTdirect Music |publisher=Artistdirect.com |date=n.d.|accessdate=November 20, 2015}}</ref> and has appeared on television sporadically since then. She was married five times: Mario Miller (1951-1958), Alejandro Camacho, Arturo Durazo (guitarist for Los Apson, 1960), Justiniano Rengifo, (from Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, 1974), and Francisco Muela. Lucha Villa has three children: Rosa Elena (1953), Carlos Alberto (1954), María José (1974).
==Discography== Early in her career she made a collaborative album with Luis Aguilar on RCA Victor. Most of her output has been on Musart Records; she also recorded for Ariola and WEA [Warner Elektra Atlantic].
==Selected filmography== * ''Seis Días para Morir (La Rabia)'' (1967) * ''The Empire of Dracula'' (1967) * ''National Mechanics'' (1972)
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070429020803/http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/villa_lucha/albums.jhtml Discography] *{{IMDb name|id=0897628|name=Lucha Villa}} *[http://www.fandango.com/luchavilla/filmography/p73547 Filmography]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Lucha}} <!--- Categories ---> Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:Actresses from Chihuahua (state) Category:Mexican film actresses Category:Musart Records artists Category:People from Camargo, Chihuahua Category:People from Chihuahua (state) Category:Ranchera singers Category:Singers from Chihuahua (state) Category:Women in Latin music Category:20th-century Mexican actresses Category:21st-century Mexican actresses Category:20th-century Mexican women singers Category:21st-century Mexican women singers Category:Best Supporting Actress Ariel Award winners