Mayra Alejandra Dies: Venezuelan Actress Dead At 58 From Cancer

Mayra Alejandra has passed away at the age of 58 following a long battle with cancer. The Venezuelan actress was the daughter of the deceased comedian Charles Berry, writer Ligia Lezama and sister of comedian Juan Carlos Berry. Her career in the small screen started at the age of 17 when her mother took her to castings where she obtained small roles. Mayra's first leading role in 1976 with "Angélica" and starred opposite José Luis Rodriguez "El Puma." From then on her career took off taking parts in other telenovelas like "Carolina," "Tormento," "La Hija De Juana Crespo" and "Piel De Zapa."

Mayra Alejandra led some of the biggest hits in other soaps like "El Angel Rebelde," "Luisana Mía," "Marta y Javier" and "Bienvenida Esperanza." The role that gave her international acclaim came in 1983 when she starred in "Leonela" opposite Carlos Olivier. This production was based on a Delia Fiallo story about a young woman that finished her career as a lawyer abroad and returns to her home country to get married to her boyfriend. On the day of their engagement party, her boyfriend humiliates a young and humble man that is completely wasted and swears vengeance. That night Leonela goes to the beach and encounters this man still drunk and rapes her. After her boyfriend finds out about the incident he abandons her, she is banned from her social circle and on top of that ends up pregnant.

Mayra Alejandra who was born Mayra Alejandra Rodriguez Lezama was born on May 7, 1955 in Caracas, Venezuela. Her son Aaron Salvador was fruit of a romance she had with Mexican actor Salvador Pineda. Mayra's last telenovela was in 2010 in "Harina De Otro Costal" where she played Carmencita. This production was an adaptation of the Shakespeare classic, "Romeo and Juliet," and starred Daniela Bascopé, Christian McGaffney, Sabrina Seara, Adrián Delgado, Mimi Lazo, Carlos Mata and Basilio Alvarez. With the loss of Mayra Alejandro Rodríguez a star shines brighter tonight. Let's remember the opening credits of her classic telenovela "Leonela" down below!