The Biography

Marika Rivera (13 November 1919 – 14 January 2010)  was a French-born film and stage actress and dancer. She was the daughter of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera and his mistress, the Russian-born painter Marie Vorobieff ("Marevna"). Rivera, who was married to Angelina Beloff at the time, did not accept his daughter, so she grew up under the care of her mother. Rivera participated in dancing and acting classes from an early age; from the age of 3 she was taught dancing by Isadora Duncan. She started performing as a dancer at age 5. In 1938 Rivera married the painter Jean Paul Brusset, and gave birth to their son Jean Brusset in 1941. Later she was married from 1949 to 1957 to Rodney Phillips, who was the owner of the Athelhampton House, Dorset. In Dorset she bore her second son David Phillips in 1949. David is the father of actor Jon Paul Phillips. After her second divorce she lived in Ealing in Greater London, England.