La viuda de Blanco

La Viuda de Blanco
Created by	Julio Jiménez
Developed by	Telemundo Studios, Miami RTI Producciones
Written by	Patricia Cuba Jenny Suarez
Directed by	Julio Jiménez Luis Manzo Leonardo Galavis David Posada
Starring	Itatí Cantoral Francisco Gattorno Zully Montero Alejandro Felipe
Music by	Alberto Slezynger Pablo Caceres
Country of origin	Colombia (1996, original version) United States (2006)
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of episodes	158
Production
Executive producer(s)	Aurelio Valcárcel Carrol
Producer(s)	Alicia Avila
Editor(s)	Ivan Martinez
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	42-45 minutes
Release
Original network	Telemundo
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Stereophonic sound
Original release	August 18, 2006 – March 2, 2007
Chronology
Preceded by	La Tormenta
Followed by	Dame Chocolate

La Viuda de Blanco (double meaning: Blanco's Widow and The Widow in White) is a 1996 Colombian telenovela hit which starred Osvaldo Ríos, María Helena Doehring, Jorge Enrique Abello, and Yolandita Monge. Its remake, titled the same, premiered on July 24, 2006 on Telemundo. Both versions (the remake including mostly Mexican actors) were produced by Telemundo Studios Miami. The 1996 version was broadcast between 1996 and 2000 in Colombia, Venezuela, Armenia, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Dominican Republic, Poland, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Ukraine, Philippines, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Plot

A mysterious woman(Amador Blanco wife) arrives in the town of Trinidad looking for her past. After years of imprisonment for a crime she did not commit, the beautiful widow Alicia Guardiola returns to claim her twin boys, who are being raised by their grandmother, the feared and respected Perfecta Albarracin. Perfecta has no intention of giving up her grandchildren without a fight, and enlists her son, the handsome Diego Blanco, to help her. On opposite sides of a battle to claim two precocious boys who share dreams and magical powers, Alicia and Diego find themselves falling in love, without even suspecting the dark consequences a relationship between them will bring.

The main conflict is Alicia's desire to get custody of her twins back. Since Alicia was put in prison for murdering her husband Amador, son of Perfecta, Perfecta got custody of Alicia's children. The story starts with Alicia just having been declared innocent of murder and released from prison. But while that is the main conflict, another conflict exists which the audience does not pay much attention to, namely how Perfecta is alienating her children by her drive to dominate them with an unforgiving spirit if they appear in her eyes to have done wrong or offended her. A crisis comes in this conflict as Perfecta realizes her error and speeds in a car to try to reach her daughter Haydee, who is leaving the country. But just before Perfecta's car catches up with Haydee's car, Haydee dies in a car crash. Eventually the audience learns that actually it is Perfecta who is the real viuda de Blanco, not Alicia! For Alicia had never been married to Perfecta's son, a scoundrel who tricked Alicia with a fake marriage using a fake priest. Moreover, we learn that Amador never died; that too was a fake death.

The story embodies a lot of comedy and a lot of repetition as the audience hears what happened repeated by minor characters or reported to others over the phone. But the comedy comes to a screeching halt with the tragic death of Haydee. The sermon of the story is to treat your children well before death makes that impossible.

Cast

• Itatí Cantoral as Alicia Guardiola, went to jail for suppose murder of Amador Blanco hence being dubbed La Viuda de Blanco, has twin son from her marriage with Amador
• Francisco Gattorno as Diego Blanco Albarracín, brother of Amador, in love with Alicia
• Zully Montero as Doña Perfecta Albarracín vda. de Blanco, mother of Amador(deceased), Haydee and Sebastian, Grandmother of twins Felipe and Duvan, Hates Alicia because she believes Alicia killed her son Amador and wants to the same with Sebastian, disowns Haydee because she went on to be a singer
• Santiago Rudas and Mateo Rudas as Felipe and Duván Blanco Guardiola, sons of Alicia and Amador(deceased), grandsons of Dona Perfecta
• Zharick León as Illuminada Urbina, Daughter of Laurentino, in love with Sebastian and hates Alicia
• Lilibeth Morillo as Haydée Blanco Albarracín, daughter of Perfecta, sister of Amador and Sebastian, in love with Dimas, went on to be a famous singer
• Flavio Caballero as Justino Briñón, adoptive father of Alicia, hates Perfecta once loved her
• Jeannette Lehr as Professor Judith Cuestas, elementary school professor, dislikes Alicia and her sons, in love with Laurentino
• Eduardo Ibarrola as Laurentino Urbina, father of Illuminada, wants Perfecta's money has been stealing from her, dislikes Alicia, her sons, Sebastian and Haydee
• Rodolfo Jiménez as Comandante Pablo Ríos, chief of police
• Manuel Balbi as Megateo, mentally challenged village boy taken under Justino's care
• Michelle Vargas as Valeria Sandoval, in love with Sebastian, hates Alicia wants revenge on her, married to Hipolito
• Alfonso Diluca as Hipólto Reboyo, in love with Valeria and married to her, owns the town bar
• Nury Flores as Blasina, house mother at Blanco ranch
• Pedro Moreno as Querubín, son of Blasina and Sebastian's friend
• Marcela Serna as Clarita, daughter of Ofelia
• Martha Pabón as Ofelia, mother of Ofelia and town gossip
• Carlos Camacho as Dimas Pantoja
• Martín Karpan as Amador Blanco Albarracín, supposedly dead but has been in hiding
• Renato Rossini as Fabio Huster

International releases

Country	TV Channels	Local Title
Bulgaria	bTV (Bulgaria)	Вдовицата в бяло
Romania	Acasa TV	Vaduva Blanco
Armenia	Shanttv	Բլանկոյի այրին

External links

• Official website
• Telemundo International La Viuda de Blanco page (English, requires Flash)