We say goodbye to one of the most historic faces on television, one of those who continued to have the massive affection of the people despite having withdrawn from public life for more than 10 years. Laura Valenzuela has died in Madrid at the age of 92 this Friday, March 17as family sources have confirmed to the media, who have been very aware of her for a few days due to her admission to the La Princesa hospital in Madrid, after her previous stay in another center due to an infection.
Rocio Espinosa Lopez-Cepero, which was his real name, was born in Seville, but he lived in Madrid all his life. As a teenager, she began to earn a salary in different jobs, including modeling, which would later open the doors to the world of film and television. World for which she, precisely, she would become one of the most well-known and beloved faces of our country. There have been many formats with which she has dared, making history by becoming the presenter of the only Eurovision Song Contest held in Spain.
Precisely, when he was asked on occasion about that moment, he always remembered an anecdote. And it is that, before beginning that festival of 1969, she wanted to ask one of the ‘big bosses’ of the gala what would happen if there was a tie between two countries. “Miss, that’s impossible”, was the answer she got and in which she detected a certain condescension for her sex and her youth. Laura never forgot her answer, nor did that historical tie between no less than four countries, which proved her right against that archaic gentleman and who treated her as if she were ignorant, according to her own words.
It’s just one of many anecdotes that Laura Valenzuela lived during her career, which began in 1953 and ended in the 2000s, when his appearances, both public and on television, began to decline. Yes, he returned to TVE, where he began his television career, to present the gala for the channel’s 50th anniversary, precisely because he was one of its historical faces. The public entity returned her place on the small screen, showing that the history of TVE cannot be understood without her.
Of course, despite the fact that his professional life was one success after another, he did not want to give up his family life and retired for a while after his only daughter was born. Laura had married José Luis Dibildos in 1971 after more than a decade of relationship. Only a few months later, Lara was born, the result of the union of what at that time was the best-known face on television and one of the most powerful producers of the moment.
It has been Lara, precisely, the one who in recent years has been giving updates on the state of her mother’s health, who permanently withdrew from public life in 2012. Since then, we have heard very little from her, but there was no shortage of those calls from the press every February 18, for her birthday, to congratulate the presenter and hear from her. Her daughter’s response was always more or less the same. Laura Valenzuela was fine, calm and in somewhat delicate healthNothing unusual in a person of his age.
Nothing compared to the scare she had in 2005, when she had to undergo surgery in Houston after being diagnosed with cancer. The story, moreover, had already been lived in her family, since Lara also suffered from thyroid cancer in the early 90s, when she was barely 20 years old. In both cases, one has been the great support of the other, teaming up against a pothole that they were able to overcome without much trouble.
Her daughter and her two grandchildren, Fran and Álvaro, have been Laura Valenzuela’s great joy in recent years, especially since her husband passed away more than two decades ago. Now, Lara Dibildos and her two children say goodbye to an adored mother and grandmother, who had everyone’s respect. And the country says goodbye to what was one of the best-known faces in the world of television, considered the first presenter in history.
We say goodbye to one of the most historic faces on television, one of those who continued to have the massive affection of the people despite having withdrawn from public life for more than 10 years. Laura Valenzuela has died in Madrid at the age of 92 this Friday, March 17as family sources have confirmed to the media, who have been very aware of her for a few days due to her admission to the La Princesa hospital in Madrid, after her previous stay in another center due to an infection.
