Amparo Muñoz

Miss Universe Amparo Muñoz came from the town of Vélez-Málaga (Málaga) in Andalusia, where she had won the city title, to compete at the Miss Spain contest held in Lanzarote. After winning, she went on to win the Miss Universe 1974 pageant in the Philippines.

According to her Filipina translator, Maria del Pilar Abesraturi Aldanese, she was homesick for her family and existing lover in Spain at the time. By the six month after winning, she declined to participate in the New York Parade with American actors Robert de Niro and Al Pacino. Remaining in Malaga, she chose to stay with personal friends and later gave up her crown after she refused her upcoming travel assignment to Tokyo, Japan,

Nevertheless, the Miss Universe Organization in an effort to save its public reputation of the company thoroughly insisted that Muñoz would remain as the official titleholder of Miss Universe 1974, since the title was not offered to first runner-up Miss Wales Helen Elizabeth Morgan – who eventually won Miss World 1974 and was herself ultimately dethroned a few days after winning the said crown. Due to the refusal of Muñoz to pass the coronation of her successor, the 21st Miss Universe was assigned to pass on the Miss Universe crown in 1975.

Cinema After her victory in pageantry, various cinematic directors took interest in her. Her first steps in cinema came in 1973 with in Wholesome Married Life, directed by Roberto Bodegas and written by José Luis Garci, she played the temptress of José Sacristán, a married man obsessed with publicity. In Tocata y fuga de Lolita she was the rebellious girl who displayed her beautiful bust, a big contributor to the movie's popularity. In the 70's, Spanish cinema was at the height of destape [double meaning: "liberalization" and "nudity"], and the splendid figure of Amparo Muñoz found 9 titles in which to reveal itself, including Clara es el Precio (Vicente Aranda, 1975), and The Other Bedroom (Eloy de la Iglesia, 1976), in which Amparo starred alongside the man who would be eventually her husband, the actor and singer Patxi Andión.

After appearances in Volvoreta (José Antonio Nieves Conde, 1976), Del Amor y de la Muerte (Antonio Giménez Rico, 1977), among other films, her cinematic career took a notable turn when she began a relationship with the producer Elías Querejeta, facilitating her appearances in films as important as Dedicatory (Jaime Chávarri, 1980), which called her to the attention of other directors in both Spain and Mexico, such as Felipe Cazals (Las siete cucas ), Pilar Miró (We Will Speak Tonight), Jaime Camino (The Open Balcony), Emilio Martínez Lázaro (Lulú of the Night), Imanol Uribe (The Black Moon). She became an instant celebrity in Spain, alongside the likes of Nino Bravo, Pedro Carrasco, Rocío Dúrcal, Rocío Jurado, Camilo Sesto, La Pandilla and other Spanish celebrities of the 1970s, following her victory at Miss Universe with a fruitful show business career.

In 1979, Muñoz acted in the comedy Mama Turns 100, by Carlos Saura.

Personal life In 1976, Muñoz met singer Francisco Andion Gonzalez, who would become her husband, while making The Other Bedroom. She also had a romantic relationship with José Coronado and an "unnamed politician" which was never revealed to the public. Later on, she dated both Flavio Labarca when she lived in Mexico in 1980 and Víctor Rubio Guijarro in the Philippines in 1991, both who suffered from drug abuse by which Muñoz called off in both relationships. She remained in the Philippines until 1996 due to the LGBT community which cherished her as a beauty queen despite her family’s request to repatriate in Spain.

The most significant extramarital relationship of Muñoz's life was with Spaniard film producer Elías Querejeta. She met Querejeta on the set of Mamá cumple cien años in 1978, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 52nd Academy Awards. The relationship subsequently received much publicity.

At the earlier stage of their relationship, Munoz requested a divorce from Querejeta, who refused to divorce for the sake of public embarrassment (as coming from a devout Roman Catholic family) with his only daughter, Gracia Querejeta. He remained legally married to his wife, Maria del Carmen Marin, throughout their relationship—although he and his legal wife had been living separate lives, there was never an official split and neither party pursued a divorce. Accordingly, after their reunion as a couple in 1996, Muñoz as a mistress, no longer interfered to break this union, and also never fought for neither marital nor conjugal rights.

Death Muñoz had been long struggling with health issues. In 1975, she was medically diagnosed with depression. In the spring of 1991, she suffered from acute pancreatitis. In 2003, she was formally diagnosed with a brain tumor along with an arterial malformation in the vicinity of her Cerebellum.

Muñoz was duly advised by her physicians of imminent death in which she suffered two more cerebral aneurysms, the first case which paralyzed half of her body, the latter which partially impaired her vision. She became reclusive and refused to physically meet with anyone, except a very select few individuals and only allowed communication via telephone.

She died on 27 February 2011 (aged 56) in Málaga, and was given a highly private funeral at her own personal request. Her mortal remains were cremated on 1 March 2011 and her gravestone is marked at the Roman Catholic cemetery of Saint Michael in Málaga, Spain.

Filmography Film

Television

Stage Year Title Role Notes 2000 La habitación del hotel Shelly