Sandra Mozarowsky

Alexandra Elena Mozarowski Ruiz de Frías (17 October 1958 – 14 September 1977), also known by the stage name Sandra Mozarowsky, was a Spanish actress whose career spanned from 1969 until her death in 1977. She starred in films such as Night of the Seagulls and Beatriz.

She was born Alexandra Elena Mozarowski Ruiz de Frías, in Tangier, Morocco, on 17 October, 1958. She was the daughter of a Russian father and Spanish mother. In 1969, she made her film debut in Spain in El otro árbol de Guernica [es] (The Other Tree of Guernica) when she was ten years old. Until her death in 1977, Sandra was one of the "Lolitas" of the coproduced Spanish Genre and "exploitation" cinema of the late seventies. Sandra's film credits include La noche de las gaviotas - the fourth and final film in the Blind Dead series, El colegio de la muerte (School of Death), Cuando el cuerno suena (When the Horn Sounds), Beatriz, and Call Girl: La vida privada de una señorita (Call Girl: The Private Life of a Lady Well).

Sandra Mozarowsky fell off her fourth-floor balcony, spent twenty-two days in vegetative coma, and finally succumbed to her injuries on 14 September, 1977. Her death was officially ruled to be suicide, but some news reports stated she was watering flowers at the time of her fall, which took place around 4 a.m.

Mozarowsky's death was featured in the September 1977 issue of a tabloid called Garbo, wherein personal friend Inma de Santis said that her death was not simply a consequence of her obsession to be thin—she did want to lose weight—but she didn't think that Mazarowsky was fat, "because the type of films being made in this country requires you to do these things." De Santis blamed the profession for this. All Mozarowsky ate in a day, she alleged, was a banana with a cup of tea. She also took pills to kill her appetite and other pills for her mood.

Theories and speculations have surrounded her death, partly due to her acquaintances' adamant unwillingness to accept the suicide verdict and the overall lack of consensus on the circumstances of her fall. Some of these theories are centred on a rumoured affair with His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, followed by a pregnancy, her refusal to terminate it, and the subsequent intervention of third parties linked to secret service operatives and/or Royal Household security staff. Her surprising opposition to abortion was documented in an interview that was published after her passing, even though the topic wasn't central to the conversation.

Speculations on her personal predicament and the controversy surrounding the cause of her death became especially frequent with the advent of the Internet; they all coalesced in a consistent version which has found its way into written media, some of it by well-established authors. For instance, in his book Ladies of Spain, Andrew Morton says:

In his book Mario Conde, La reclusión del éxito, journalist Javier Bleda wrote the following (boldface not included in the original):

Another explanation of the events from an unofficial point of view is offered in Escrito en un libro, authored under pen name Tom Farrell—shared by Kevin Costner's character in No Way Out, ostensibly a nod to the circumstances surrounding the death of Sean Young's character in that film. According to this book the assault on an actress, called "Sara Wagnerowski" and pregnant with the King's child (Juan Carlos and his family do appear with their names intact), was orchestrated by one "Néstor Colomer, Barón de Andújar" (arguably a fictionalised version of the 23rd Marquess of Mondéjar, chief of the Royal Household at the time).

According to this version, "Andújar" arranged the ambush with the intent of causing the actress a miscarriage but the injuries sustained in her defenestration were too serious. The story draws heavily from what seems to be a first-hand account of a rookie Royal Household security staff member. This confidante allegedly stood near the woman's street level doorstep and witnessed her fall minutes after his immediate supervisor accompanied two other men (speculated to be Marseillais or South European thugs on a shady payroll) upstairs to her flat.

She was buried in the Holy Guardian Angel Cemetery in Madrid.