Laurita Valenzuela

Laurita Valenzuela
Laura Valenzuela in 2012.
Born	Rocío Espinosa López-Cepero 18 February 1931 Seville, Spain
Other names	Laura Valenzuela
Occupation	Presenter, actress, model
Years active	1954–2000s (retired)
Spouse(s)	José Luis Dibildos (m. 1971; died 2002)
Children	Lara Dibildos

Rocío Espinosa López-Cepero (born 18 February 1931, Seville), known professionally as Laurita Valenzuela or Laura Valenzuela, is a Spanish television presenter and actress of the 1950s and 1960s. 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 acted 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.

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, alongside Anne Igartiburu and Paula Vázquez.^[4]

Selected filmography

• Madame (1961)
• The Daughters of Helena (1963)
• 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)
• Pierna creciente, falda menguante (1970)
• Spaniards in Paris (1971)

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

References

1. "Laura Valenzuela vuelve a TV con ≪Tele 5, ¿dígame?≫", abc.es; accessed 16 April 2014 (in Spanish).
2. "Laurita Valenzuela en Houston para operarse de un cancer", abc.es; accessed 1 October 2014 (in Spanish).
3. Valenzuela breast cancer battle, tiempodehoy.com; accessed 1 October 2014 (in Spanish).
4. "La gala del 50º aniversario de TVE fue seguida por 4.800.000 espectadores, un 34% de la audiencia", rtve.es; accessed 16 April 2014 (in Spanish).

External links

• Laurita Valenzuela at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile, eurovision-spain.com; accessed 1 October 2014.
• Profile, eurovision.tv; accessed 1 October 2014.