Laura Valenzuela

Laura Valenzuela
Laura Valenzuela
	Valenzuela in 2012.
Born	Rocío Espinosa López-Cepero; 18 February 1931 (age 93); Seville, Spain
Other names	Laurita Valenzuela
Occupation	Presenter, actress, model
Years active	1954–2006 (retired)
Spouse	José Luis Dibildos (m. 1971; died 2002)
Children	Lara Dibildos

Rocío Espinosa López-Cepero (born 18 February 1931, in Seville), known professionally as Laura Valenzuela, or Laurita Valenzuela in her beginnings, is a retired Spanish television presenter, actress and model. She was one of the first television presenters in Spain appearing in the early broadcasts of Televisión Española (TVE). In 1969, she hosted the Eurovision Song Contest held in Madrid.

Biography

Before becoming known in Europe for hosting 1969 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, she was a model and appeared in many publications around the world. She was one of the first faces that Spain saw on television when Televisión Española (TVE) was launched in 1956.

She starred in many films since the early 1950s up through the late 1960s. In 1971, when she married film director José Luis Dibildos and had her daughter, presenter Lara Dibildos, she retired from public life, until she returned to television in 1990 on private channel Telecinco.^[1] Later on, she returned to TVE in 1996.

She retired again in the 2000s when she was treated for breast cancer.^[2]^[3] She recovered but remains retired, apart from occasional collaborations and appearances, such as on 7 December 2006, when she hosted the special show Gala 50 años de TVE, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of TVE, beside Anne Igartiburu and Paula Vázquez.^[4]

Selected filmography

Film

High Fashion (1954)
The Fisher of Songs (1954)
It Happened in Seville (1955)
The Tenant (1957)
The Violet Seller (1958)
Los tramposos (1959)
Three Ladies (1960)
Madame (1961)
The Daughters of Helena (1963)
Cyrano and d'Artagnan (1964)
The Black Tulip (1964)
Hagan juego, señores (1965)
Las noches de Monsieur Max (1965)
Z7 Operation Rembrandt (1966)
Demasiadas mujeres para Layton (1966)
Amor a la española (1967)
Las que tienen que servir (1967)
Los subdesarrollados (1968)
La dinamita está servida (1968)
De profesión, sus labores (1970)
Growing Leg, Diminishing Skirt (1970)
Spaniards in Paris (1971)

Television

Galas del sábado (1968-1970) – TVE – Host with Joaquín Prat
Eurovision Song Contest 1969 – TVE and EBU – Host
Festival de la Canción Española (1970) – TVE – Host with Joaquín Prat
Tele 5 ¿dígame? (1990–1992) – Telecinco – Host with Javier Basilio, Paloma Lago and Nati Abascal
Gala 50 años de TVE (2006) – TVE – Host with Anne Igartiburu and Paula Vázquez

Accolades

Edition	Awards	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1969	Antena de Oro	Television presenter		Won	^[5]
1972	CEC Awards	Best Actress	Spaniards in Paris	Won	^[6]
2006	TP de Oro	Honorary		Won	^[7]
2012	Iris Awards	Honorary		Won	^[8]

References

^ "Laura Valenzuela vuelve a TV con ≪Tele 5, ¿dígame?≫". abc.es (in Spanish). 6 October 1990. p. 124. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
^ Cortázar, Beatriz (18 January 2005). "Laura Valenzuela en Houston para operarse de un cancer". abc.es (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
^ Lorente, Celia (25 February 2011). "TIEMPO CUENTA LA HISTORIA DE MUJERES FAMOSAS QUE VENCIERON EL CÁNCER" [Valenzuela breast cancer battle]. tiempodehoy.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
^ "La gala del 50º aniversario de TVE fue seguida por 4.800.000 espectadores, un 34% de la audiencia". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 9 December 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
^ "Concesión de las "Antenas de Oro"". ABC (in Spanish) (Seville ed.). 5 July 1969. p. 66. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
^ "Entrega de Premios". ABC (in Spanish) (Madrid ed.). 21 April 1972. p. 96. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
^ "La serie 'Aída' de Tele 5 triunfa en los TP de Oro". El País (in Spanish). 7 March 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
^ "Premios Iris 2012, de la Academia TV, en directo". FormulaTV (in Spanish). 4 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

External links

Laura Valenzuela at IMDb
ESC 1969 Profile, eurovision-spain.com; accessed 23 October 2022 (in Spanish).
ESC 1969 Profile, eurovision.tv; accessed 23 October 2022.

Preceded by Katie Boyle	Eurovision Song Contest presenter 1969	Succeeded by Willy Dobbe

[1] "Laura Valenzuela vuelve a TV con ≪Tele 5, ¿dígame?≫". abc.es (in Spanish). 6 October 1990. p. 124. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

[2] Cortázar, Beatriz (18 January 2005). "Laura Valenzuela en Houston para operarse de un cancer". abc.es (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 1 October 2014.

[3] Lorente, Celia (25 February 2011). "TIEMPO CUENTA LA HISTORIA DE MUJERES FAMOSAS QUE VENCIERON EL CÁNCER" [Valenzuela breast cancer battle]. tiempodehoy.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2014.

[4] "La gala del 50º aniversario de TVE fue seguida por 4.800.000 espectadores, un 34% de la audiencia". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 9 December 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

[5] "Concesión de las "Antenas de Oro"". ABC (in Spanish) (Seville ed.). 5 July 1969. p. 66. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

[6] "Entrega de Premios". ABC (in Spanish) (Madrid ed.). 21 April 1972. p. 96. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

[7] "La serie 'Aída' de Tele 5 triunfa en los TP de Oro". El País (in Spanish). 7 March 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

[8] "Premios Iris 2012, de la Academia TV, en directo". FormulaTV (in Spanish). 4 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

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