Concha Velasco

Concepción Velasco Varona, better known as Concha Velasco and before as Conchita Velasco (Valladolid, November 29, 1939), is a Spanish actress, singer, dancer and television presenter.

Artistic career

She studied Classical and Spanish Dance in Madrid, at the National Conservatory from the ages of 10 to 20. She debuted as a dancer in the corps de ballet of the La Coruña Opera and in Manolo Caracol's company as a flamenco dancer. She later debuted as a vice triple in Celia Gámez's.

Cinema

She began her film career at the age of fifteen in The Moorish Queen (1954), which was followed by numerous titles also as a supporting actress, among which The Taming of the Shrew stands out. (1956). She then co-starred in Girls on Vacation (1957) and The Red Cross Girls (1958), her professional consecration, along with Tony Leblanc, with whom She would make six films. Successes such as Los Tramposos (1959), El día de los amores (1959), El indulto (1961) belong to this era as a youthful actress., Love Below Zero (1960), Julia and the Coelacanth (1961) and La Verbena de la Paloma (1963), among many others, highlighting Television Stories (1965), where, due to the demands of the script, Conchita performs in a scene of the film a song composed by Augusto Algueró and the Cartagena musician-lyricist Antonio Guijarro titled " Girl ye ye". Conchita is forever nicknamed with that title and she suddenly finds herself successful as a singer, something she admits she has never been, but even so she records eight albums with Belter. Later, she made recordings of her shows Mata Hari, Mamá, Quiero ser arteta!, Carmen, Carmen, La truhana... In 1990 he will sing a new version of the popular "Chica ye ye", commemorating the 25th anniversary of its release.

At the end of the 60s, Conchita was already performing «wife roles» in films with directors such as Mariano Ozores, José Luis Sáenz de Heredia or Pedro Lazaga as Those who have to serve (1967), Four Wedding Nights (1969), The Taxi of Conflicts (1969), Susana (1969), The decent (1970), The soul is serene (1970), Lend me fifteen days (1971), Sale by flats (1971), The roosters of the morning (1971), Yo soy Fulana de Tal (1975), etc.... and began a series of collaborations with the popular singer Manolo Escobar in titles such as But... in which country do we live? (1967), Almost Public Relations (1968), Skirt Trial (1969), In a Place in La Manga (1970), You Owe Me a Dead Man (1971)... In all of them he appears alongside the main figures of Spanish cinema of the moment, such as Alfredo Landa, José Luis López Vázquez, Antonio Ozores, the aforementioned Tony Leblanc, and they share the genre of light comedy so common in Spanish cinema of the time.

At the time of the Transition, she performed more serious roles in films such as the co-production I Didn't Find Roses for My Mother (1973) with Gina Lollobrigida and Danielle Darrieux, Tormento i> (1974), Pim, pam, pum... fire! (1975) by Pedro Olea, A luxury within your reach (1975), The long vacation of 36 (1976), Wife and lover (1977), The hive (1982) by Mario Camus, Esquilache (1989) by Josefina Molina, for which she was nominated for the Goya Award for best supporting actress, and I get off on the next one, what about you? (1992).

Her last appearances in cinema have been in Más Beyond the Garden (1996), nominated for the Goya for best actress, Paris-Timbuktu (1999), fulfilling her dream of working alongside director Luis García Berlanga,Km. 0 (2001), Moscow Gold (2002), Welcome Home (2005), B&B (2006), Chuecatown (2007), Enloquecida (2008) Rabia (2009), Malasaña 32 (2020).

In 2012 he received, for his entire cinematographic career, the Goya Honor Award awarded by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain.

Theatre

Along with cinema, his greatest professional prestige has been achieved in the theater. He made his debut in the magazine Ven y ven al Eslava (1959) and made several more comedies during the 60s, such as The rights of women (1962), The boyfriend (1962) or Those who have to serve (1962). It is followed by titles such as Don Juan Tenorio (1964), El alma serena (1969), Abelardo y Eloísa (1972) and The zithers hanging from the trees (1974), among others. It is during a performance of Don Juan Tenorio when she meets her future husband, the actor and theater producer Paco Marsó (real name Francisco Martínez Socias).

In 1977 the theater premiered Las arrecogías del beguinage of Santa María Egipciaca, by José Martín Memo, along with Pilar Bardem and María Luisa Ponte, in which Concha plays the character of Mariana Pineda, in which all the characters symbolically requested the protagonist's amnesty. Subsequently, he premiered Filumena Marturano (1979), by Eduardo de Filippo, I'll get off next time, what about you? (1981), Mata Hari i> (1983), both by Adolfo Marsillach and Good night, mother with Mary Carrillo (1985).

In 1986 he prepared the staging of a great musical: Mom, I want to be an artist, a success that brought him great popularity. With Carmen, Carmen (1988) and La truhana (1992) she also appears in the theater.

In the nineties, Concha becomes the prototype of a middle-aged woman fed up with her marriage who still needs to feel alive, fighting with all her strength in her last days of splendor. The Rose Tattoo (1998), adaptation of the work by Tennessee Williams, is an example of this type of role, in addition to others in film.

In 1999, her friend, the writer and poet Antonio Gala, wrote The Friday Apples for her, with which she obtained magnificent success that allowed her to embark on the ambitious project of covering the famous Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! (2001), with which she toured throughout Spain with great success in the same role played by Barbra Streisand herself.

Her latest plays have been Inés desabrochada (2003), also by Antonio Gala, together with the veterans Nati Mistral and Paco Valladares and the new version of Filomena Marturano (2006), both with great reception. Furthermore, from April 2009 to mid-2011 he performed the play by Josep María Pou, Life ahead , a success with more than 270,000 spectators over the 2 years. Her next theatrical project Concha, yo lo que Quiero es Bailar, also directed by the same director as La vida por siempre, premiered in Valladolid in September 2011.

In 2012 he participated in the Mérida Festival, along with José María Pou and Maribel Verdú in the work Hélade and a year later he did so with Hécuba by Euripides. After a sick leave, she returned to the stage in October 2014 with the play Olivia y Eugenio, by Herbert Morote, directed by José Carlos Plaza. In 2016 she played the historical character of Juana la Loca, in a monologue written by Ernesto Caballero and directed by Gerardo Vera at the Teatro de La Abadía in Madrid.

In 2014 she was declared an honorary member of the Academy of Performing Arts of Spain and received the National Theater Award on November 23, 2016.

In 2018 he took to the stage again to lead the play The Funeral at the La Latina Theater in Madrid, written by his own son.

In the summer of 2019 she served as narrator at the Mérida Festival of the work The Metamorphoses, a version by the American Mary Zimmerman based on Ovid's myths.

On August 19, 2020, María's Room premieres at the Victoria Eugenia Theater in San Sebastián, written by her son Manuel Martínez Velasco and directed by José Carlos Plaza. With this same work, on September 21, 2021, he performed his last theatrical performance at the Teatro Bretón de los Herreros in Logroño, announcing his retirement from the stage days before.

Television

Concha debuted on television in the 1960s on the popular TVE program Estudio 1 in which plays specially recorded for the small screen were programmed. Among the titles he performed include The Lady of the Dawn (1965), The Alondra (1969), Don Juan Tenorio (1966), < i>Low Tide (1971), A Little Girl from Valladolid (1973), The Witches of Salem (1973) or Do you want to play with me? (1972).

But her best role for the small screen comes with Teresa de Jesús (1984), a series broadcast on TVE in which she plays the Spanish saint. She presents the New Year's Eve specials on the public channel from 1985 to '87 while also participating in the space The Spanish Musical Comedy (1985). In the 1980s she also hosted the network's New Year's Eve special program for 3 years in a row, between 1984 and 1986.

In 1990 he presented the musical and variety space Viva elspect, with which he ended his appearances on TVE to start a similar program on the private channel Tele 5 titled Querida Concha i> (1992) and the Dear Parents contest (1992). On Antena 3 TV he presents the magazine Encantada de la vida (1993-1994) and records the series Yo, una mujer (1996) and Mamá wants to be an artist (1997), in addition to collaborating in the series Compañeros (1998). On the same network, she replaces the popular presenter Isabel Gemio in the program Surprise, surprise (1999). Antonio Mercero thought of her to play the main character of the successful series Farmacia de Guardia , something that Concha had to reject due to the numerous professional commitments that she already had agreed upon.

He returned to TVE in 2001 to take charge of the program Tiempo al tiempo, which began as a nostalgic magazine that remembered stages and artists of the past to become a show of events and black and pink chronicle that was removed from broadcast. Concha herself admits to having done disreputable work on TV in order to finance a good part of her expensive theater projects. She works in the miniseries Las cherries del cemetery (2005), a version of the work of the same name by Gabriel Miró.

Her latest works on TV have been the Tele 5 intrigue series Personal reasons (2005), where she played Aurora Acosta, a calculating woman who will try to keep her family away from scandals, series that had very good audience data, and was a critical success, and the failed TVE program My grandfather is the best (2006), which was withdrawn after a few days. He had better luck with the series Herederos (2008), on TVE, produced by Cuarzo Producciones, along with Álvaro de Luna, Ginés García Millán, Helio Pedregal and Félix Gómez, among others, where he played Carmen Orozco, a role that earned her two nominations for the Actors Union Awards, winning one of them. She has also played Dorothy in the TVE series The Golden Girls (2010). Her co-stars were Lola Herrera (Blanca), Carmen Maura (Rosa) and Alicia Hermida (Sofía).

In January 2011 she began presenting the TVE program Cine de barrio, except for a few months when she was on sick leave during 2014 and was replaced by Elena S. Sánchez. Her stage At the head of the program he ended in September 2020 because he preferred to dedicate his time to the theater and his family.

In October 2011 he participated in the series Gran Hotel, on Antena 3. In February 2014, his participation as a regular character in the second season of the series Live singing< was announced. /i>, from the Antena 3 network playing Charo, but finally the actress could not be there for health reasons.

She participated in the second season of the Antena 3 series, Under suspicion where she played Adela Valcárcel, which premiered on January 12, 2016.

Starting in 2016, she participates in the fourth season of the Antena 3 series, Velvet, in that same year she signs for the new series on the Netflix Internet platform called The girls of the cablewith Yon González, Ana Polvorosa, Blanca Suárez, among others.

Private life

He was born on Recondo Street in Valladolid; She was the daughter of the cavalry commander Pío Velasco Velasco (1909-07/31/1995) and María Concepción Varona García de Mardones (1917-02/28/1991), teacher. She was married between April 18, 1977 and 2005 with the aforementioned Paco Marsó, with whom she had a son, Francisco Martínez Velasco. Before marriage, Concha had a son, Manuel Martínez Velasco, the result of her relationship with the director of photography Fernando Arribas. Paco Marsó in turn brought in her daughter Diana Patricia, who he also had as a bachelor with Brigitte.

She is the aunt of the actress Manuela Velasco, granddaughter of Jesús Varona Trigueros, lyricist composer of the Hymn to Valladolid and of Umbelina García de Mardones, being her maternal grandparents.

In 2005 she divorced Paco Marsó, her only great love according to her, but whose love of gambling led her to ruin on several occasions. Paco also recognized that she had been unfaithful to him on several occasions, which led Concha to consider suicide.

In 2008 Concha Velasco was one of the founders of the Zapatero Support Platform, in which actors, athletes, singers and prominent Spaniards participated, among whom we can mention Joan Manuel Serrat, Fran Perea, Álvaro de Luna, Ana Belén, Joaquín Sabina and Víctor Manuel, among others.

On May 28, 2014, he revealed that he was fighting lymphatic cancer that was discovered in mid-April of the same year. After undergoing the corresponding treatment, he recovered his professional activity a few months later.

In 2019 he put an end to years of debt with the Spanish Treasury, having to sell his house.

In September 2021 the eternal 'Chica Yeyé' announces his retirement from the stage. After years of success, her children convince her of this final goodbye.

In February 2022, her mobility problems led her to settle in a residence in the center of Madrid.

Career

Filmography

Theatre

Television

TV series

TV shows

Discography

• Girl ye ye (1965)
• Lost (1966)
• Lost loves (1969)
• Magic (1971)
• Danger (1973)
• I'm like I am. (1981)
• Live (1983)
• Mom, I want to be an artist! (1986)
• Two. (1991)
• Equated (1997)
• Fire (2001)

Prizes and nominations

Goya Awards

Medals of the Film Writers Circle

Sant Jordi Awards

Silver frames

Union of Actors

Iris Awards (formerly ATV Awards)

Valle-Inclán Theatre Awards

Ondas Awards

Max Awards

Valladolid International Film Week

Malaga Festival

Huesca International Film Festival

Other

Honorary distinctions

• Gran Cruz de la Orden de Alfonso X el Sabio (Gobierno de España, 07/10/2016)

Tributes

Since 2014, Rosario Pereda Street in Valladolid was renamed Calle de Concha Velasco.