Born in the pre-war Prague, young Miroslava Sternova (or simply Miroslava, as she was known in her film career) was brought to Mexico by her parents in the late 30s, leaving her childhood, her native Czechoslovakia and her beloved grandma. After winning a beauty contest in Mexico City, Miroslava spent some time in Los Angeles studying acting. Because her European features, and her native accent, she hardly found roles other than mysterious women or foreign beauties. After a standard career, she was offered a role in which will become her last and most remembered film: Luis Buñuel's La vie criminelle d'Archibald de la Cruz (1955). Soon after the final wrap of this film, Miroslava committed suicide (apparently because a love deception). In a macabre coincidence, the premiere of Ensayo de un crimen, in which a wax statue of her is incinerated, coincided with her own cremation in a Mexican graveyard. Her tragic life inspired a short story in 1990, and a film, Miroslava (1993).
