The wedding of Stella del Carmen to Alex Gruszynski, daughter of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, was marked by the absence of her four grandparents, three of whom were already deceased. The sole surviving grandparent is Tippi Hedren, Alfred Hitchcock’s muse, who at 95 becomes one of the few stars of Hollywood’s golden era left to us, even though it was recently reported that she suffers from dementia. Irreplaceable moments were lived, including, thanks to a video by Antonio Banderas, which moved everyone.
Her first ex-husband, Peter Griffith, who had been a child prodigy actor, advertising executive, real estate agent, and rancher, died on February 14, 2001, while Antonio Banderas’s parents, José Antonio Domínguez and Ana Bandera, died in February 2008 and in November 2017, which was a devastating blow for the actor, since both his brother, Javier, and he had a very close and ongoing relationship with them. G
Stella del Carmen’s four grandparents had the opportunity to meet her and enjoy time with her, since she was born on September 24, 1996, in Marbella. Especially the paternal ones, as there have been many occasions when she passed through our country, which has also led her to choose Abadía Retuerta, in the province of Valladolid, to wed, as she keeps her Spanish roots very present.
When Antonio Banderas decided to become an actor, first within the Málaga circles, and later in the capital of Spain, where he would come into contact with eminent figures such as Lluis Pascual, who directed him in the play La hija del aire, and Pedro Almodóvar, who gave him his first big opportunity in cinema with Laberinto de pasiones. He arrived in the capital with 15,000 pesetas, all the eagerness in the world to succeed and, above all, the explicit support of his family.
The Death of Antonio Banderas’s Parents
The first of his parents to die, in February 2008, was José Domínguez Prieto, who had been ill for a long time. He was 87 years old and died at La Gaviota, his son’s mansion in Marbella, which had previously belonged to the controversial Encarna Sánchez and which was eventually demolished after long legal battles due to irregularities in its construction.
Antonio Banderas’s father was a police commissioner and lived for much of his life in the Barrio de la Esperanza in Málaga, the city where his son now resides as a global star. Banderas was also very proud of his parents, who accompanied him at moments of great significance for him, such as when he was honored with the title of Favorite Son of Málaga and Favorite Son of the Province.
An image of Ana Bandera Gallego, the mother of the Málaga-born actor.
He received this last award in 2005 and the star of La ley del deseo and Átame was especially moved. He dedicated it to his parents, with very meaningful words: “It is you who, in an invisible and silent way, have shaped my personality and endowed me with the shields I have sometimes had to wield on the battlefields of a confusing world.”
It was Antonio Banderas himself who announced his mother’s death on his social networks, with a beautiful black-and-white photo: “At six o’clock this dawn, on November 4, 2017, our mother Ana Bandera Gallego has left us forever. She takes with her not only the affection of her family but also that of friends who loved her and will always remember her. May God keep her in the place she deserves.”
A teacher by profession, she passed away at 84 at the El Ángel clinic, where she had been admitted for several days due to problems arising from a degenerative disease she suffered. She was very devoted to the Virgin of Tears and Favours, as well as the head of the Fusionadas Brotherhoods. Antonio was able to accompany his mother in her last days because he was filming in Málaga the series Genius, in which he played Pablo Picasso.
