Her full name is Rocío Laura Espinosa López-Cepero, but the general public will always remember her as Laura Valenzuela, a well-known television presenter and actress who made her great passport to perpetual fame on the small screen. But what happened to her? What has become of this pioneer of national entertainment?
Laurita Valenzuela was one of the most visible faces of the most prehistoric television in the country. In fact, the first. Her multifaceted face in those early stages of the small screen in Spain, back in 1956, made her one of the most famous personalities in the country.
And it was there, between promotions and formats, that she met the one who would later become her husband and father of her daughter, the producer José Luis Dibildos. She with him promoted her facet as an actress, but she soon returned to the small screen to make Joaquín Prat her perpetual artistic partner.
And it is that there were not a few formats that both shared. Without going any further, the classic Galas on Saturday, a program for which she will continue to be remembered and which prompted her to become the person who presented the only Eurovision festival held in Spain to date.
It was in 1969 and it took over from Massiel as the winner of the contest. Whom? A quadruple tie between the one that Salomé found and the Vivo Cantando of him. But that is another story. The certain thing is that the presence of Valenzuela in this contest continues being historical.
So was his last decision in 1971, when he announced to all viewers that he was retiring from the small screen to get married and focus on his family. A decision that today would be unthinkable but in the context of those years it makes more sense. In addition, during her march she left a perpetual look at the camera that will continue to be studied in the faculties of communication and journalism.
The question at this point is what has become of her after the fact. And the truth is that Laura Valenzuela, who has already reached nine decades of life, is living with her daughter Lara Dibildos after she suffered a setback in her health in 2022. Little else is known about this veteran communicator who was in charge of commanding the first time of many times on Spanish Television.
