Paulina Marcela Urrutia Fernández (born 15 January 1969) is a Chilean actress, academic, director, trade union leader, and politician. She was a State Minister of the first government of President Michelle Bachelet.

Biography Born into a middle-class family, Paulina Urrutia grew up in the San Miguel district of the Chilean capital. Her parents worked in public administration and separated when she was fifteen years old. She studied at the Company of Mary school on Seminario Street in the municipality of Providencia.

Her first introduction to theater was as a girl, in a school workshop. Later, after graduating from high school, she entered the discipline at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

The exercise of her profession began very early. The first play in which she performed was Esperando la carroza, in 1987, under the direction of Raúl Osorio. Her career in television began in a Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) series in 1989, thanks to an invitation from the producer . She played, with great success, Juanita Fernández Solar, who was later declared the first Chilean saint under the name Teresa of the Andes.

A year later she participated, also on TVN, in , her first telenovela. In 1994, after starring in the television series , she joined the Television Corporation of the Catholic University of Chile (UC TV), where she remained until 2002. A highlight of that period was her performance in , as Sarita Mellafe, considered by critics as one of the best villains seen on Chilean television. In 2003 she returned to TVN, appearing in the telenovela , but would return to UC TV the following year, acting in and . Her film debut came in 1993, in the movie Johnny 100 Pesos by local filmmaker Gustavo Graef Marino.

Urrutia quickly became involved in the political world by actively participating in the Chilean Actors Union (Sidarte), becoming its general secretary and its president in 2001. During the first government of Michelle Bachelet, she was appointed president of the National Council of Culture and the Arts in 2006. This is equivalent to the position of culture minister in other countries.

Under her administration as minister, a set of reforms to intellectual property law was drafted and discussed. It was approved unanimously by the National Congress on 13 January 2010, and promulgated as Law No. 20,435 on 4 May of that year, during the government of Sebastián Piñera.

In May 2017 she assumed the direction of the Camilo Henríquez Theater, succeeding the playwright Ramón Griffero.

Urrutia was married to journalist, producer, and director Augusto Góngora, until his death in May 2023. Gongora had been diagnosed with Alzheimers disease since 2014. She has no children, but two step-children with him. Between 2018 and 2022 the Chilean film maker Maite Alberdi followed the couple in and outside their home to create a full-length documentary film, The Eternal Memory, showing how they coped with Góngora's illness in daily life. The film was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and had its European premiere in the Panorama Section at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2023. On May 19, 2023, Gongora died.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Director 1993 Johnny 100 Pesos Patty Gustavo Graef-Marino 1996 El encierro Olga Marcelo Ferrari 1999 No tan lejos de Andrómeda América Juan Vicente Araya 2003 Carga vital Engracia Sebastián Campos 2004 Lucy Silvio Caiozzi Tendida, mirando las estrellas Nieves Andrés Racz 2006 Fuga Macarena Sancho Pablo Larraín 2007 La gravedad del púgil Nancy Jorge Mella 2016 Chameleon Paulina Jorge Riquelme Serrano2021A Place Called DignityFirst LadyMatías Rojas Valencia 2023 The Eternal Memory Herself Maite AlberdiHistory and GeographyBernardo Quesney2024Isla NegraCarmenJorge Riquelme Serrano

Telenovelas Year Title Role Channel 1988 Luchita (joven) TVN 1990 El milagro de vivir Elcira Troncoso TVN 1991 Nancy Jara TVN 1992 Doris Machuca TVN 1993 Paula Quesney TVN 1994 Marly González Canal 13 1995 El amor está de moda Soledad Canal 13 1996 Rosita Monarde Canal 13 1997 Luly Canal 13 1998 Nelly Lobos Canal 13 1999 Fuera de control Sarita Mellafe Canal 13 2000 Lucero del Campo Canal 13 2001 María Conejo Canal 13 2003 Sofía Méndez TVN 2004 Tentación Dominga Jiménez Canal 13 2005 Gatas & tuercas Brenda Lillo Canal 13 2017 Eliana Bustos TVN

TV series Year Title Role Channel 1989 Juana Fernández del Solar TVN 1990 Historias de Corín Tellado TVN 2003 Cuentos de mujeres Carla / Silvia TVN 2005 Casados Jessica López Chilevisión 2006 TVN 2011-2013 Prófugos Adriana Bascuñán HBO 2013 Inés de Rivera Chilevisión 2014 Carmen Ríos Chilevisión 2014 Dra. Patricia Andrade TVN 2015 Juana Brava Hilda Salgado TVN 2017 Madre de Jorge Chilevisión 2018 Casa de Angeli TVN

Theater Esperando la carroza (1987), by Jacobo Langsner, Theater of the Catholic University of Chile, dir.: Raúl Osorio El paseo de Buster Keaton (1988), assembly of three pieces by Federico García Lorca for the director Aldo Parodi, La Memoria Theater Company La Tierra no es redonda (1989), staged by Alfredo Castro, based on El libro de Cristóbal Colón by Paul Claudel, La Memoria Theater Company , by Alfredo Castro and , in the role of the girl in the pear tree, 1992, La Memoria Theater Company; re-release: 2010 Los días tuertos (1993), La Memoria Theater Company El seductor (1996), by Benjamín Galemiri La misión (1997), by Heiner Müller Máquina Hamlet (1999), by Heiner Müller Cinema-Uttopia (2000), by Ramón Griffero Todos saben quién fue (2001), by Alejandro Moreno Devastados (2002), by Sarah Kane, dir.: Alfredo Castro La amante fascista, by Alejandro Chato Moreno, in the role of Iris Rojas, La Palabra Theater Company, 2010; Camilo Henríquez Theater, 2017, under the direction of Tus deseos en fragmentos (2012), by Ramón Griffero, Fin de Siglo Theater Prometeo, el origen (2015), by Ramón Griffero, Camilo Henríquez Theater 99 La Morgue (2017), by Ramón Griffero, directed by the author, Camilo Henríquez Theater

Music videos Year Title Artist Director 2017 "Para ser aceptada" Martina Lecaros Nano García

Awards APES 1990, Award for Best Television Actress for 1993, APES Award for Best Film Actress for Johnny 100 Pesos

Altazor 2000, Altazor Award in Audiovisual Arts as Best Television Actress for 2003, Altazor Award in Performing Arts as Best Theater Actress for Devastados 2011, Altazor Award in Performing Arts as Best Theater Actress for La amante fascista

International Festival of Trieste, Italy 2007, Best Performance for the film Tendida, mirando las estrellas

Caleuche 2016, Caleuche Award for Best Supporting Actress in the series

References

External links