Katy Jurado; born Maria Christina Jurado Garcia; January 16, 1924, Guadalajara, Mexico.

Katy Jurado, the Mexican actress who played a sultry wildcat in some of the top American films of the 1950s died Friday, July 5, 2002 at the age of 78. Jurado died at her home in Cuernavaca, 35 miles south of the capital, according to Francisco Corona, spokesman for the National Actors Association. She had suffered from lung and heart ailments.

At her best as fiery lover in Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady (1951); the woman who still loves Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952); with Alan Ladd and husband (1959-1964) Ernest Borgnine in The Badlanders (1958); with Glenn Ford in Trial (1955); John Huston's Under the Volcano (1984); Brando's underrated western One-Eyed Jacks (1961); and at her best in a brief but memorable role as Slim Pickens' loving, supportive and tough wife (very atypical for Peckinpah) in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973); most recently seen in Stephen Frears' The Hi-Lo Country (1998). She was nominated for a supporting-actress Oscar for her role opposite Spencer Tracy in the 1954 western Broken Lance. Other films include: Arrowhead (1953), Trapeze (1956), Barabbas (1962). She had two children with her other husband, Victor Velasquez.

Trivia: Gained 22 pounds in 22 days to play the part of Annie Lightcloud in Stay Away, Joe (1968). Days before filming she broke her foot and removed the cast prematurely which explains her limp throught the movie. It is doubtful whether she lost that 22 pounds.