Josefa Flores González (born 4 February 1948), known professionally as Marisol or Pepa Flores, is a retired Spanish singer and actress who was an evolving icon in Spain since her first appearance in 1960 as a child star until her retreat from the spotlight in 1985.

Early life

Marisol was born Josefa Flores González on 4 February 1948 in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Spain. From early childhood, she demonstrated a love of singing and

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

dance, passed down to her by her grandmother Victoria. The girl entered a choir and dance group named Los joselitos del cante belonging to the

Sección Femenina The Sección Femenina ("Female Section"; SF) was the women's branch of the Falange political movement in Spain. Founded in 12 July 1934 as part of the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU) of the Falange Española de las JONS (FE de las JONS), ...

's national organization . In 1959, she was discovered by film producer Manuel Goyanes. One of her first televised performances with Los joselitos del cante was seen by his daughter Mari Carmen Goyanes, and she convinced her father that the girl she had seen on television was the actress and singer they needed. The producer convinced Pepa Flores's parents, and she ultimately signed an exclusive contract with him.

Career

A star is born

The career of Marisol, her artistic name, had just begun. She received dance, acting, and declamation classes taught by the best teachers, with the idea of making her the star of children's and youth cinema. For her first film, '' A Ray of Light'' (directed by

Luis Lucia Luis Lucia Mingarro (24 May 1914, in Valencia – 12 March 1984, in Madrid) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His father, Luis Lucia, was the Spanish minister of communications in 1935. He studied Law and was the attorney of ...

, 1960), a huge merchandising campaign was organized around the new star, with books, dolls, cards, and all kinds of objects with the girl's image. Each film premiere included a tour of Spain and Hispanic countries to promote it, with all kinds of events creating tumults and crowds at the airports. Televisions, interviews, and hundreds of photo shoots, in addition to the film shootings, prevented her from having a childhood like that of any other girl. Columbia Pictures wanted to buy the rights to Manuel Goyanes to continue exploiting her artistic career, but the producer rejected the proposal. Luis Lucia propelled her to national stardom in her two following films '' An Angel Has Arrived'' (1961) and '' Tómbola'' (1962). She was extremely popular in Spain and Latin America.

As a singer

She also established herself as a singer thanks to the songs she performed in her films. Some of her best-known songs from her first three films were "", "", "Bambina", "", " Estando contigo", "Chiquitina", and "Nueva melodía". In 1963 she starred in '' Marisol rumbo a Río'', where she played twins (similar to

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promisi ...

in '' The Parent Trap'') and sang "Bossanova junto a ti", "Muchachita", "¡Oh, Tony!", and "Guajiras". Marisol co-starred with

Robert Conrad Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk; March 1, 1935 – February 8, 2020) was an American film and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–1969 television series ''The Wild Wild West'', playin ...

the 1964 film '' La nueva Cenicienta'', in which she sang "Me conformo".

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón FerrerAncestry Library Edition (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ...

directed her in '' Cabriola'' in 1965, where she sang "Cabriola", "¡Ay, vagabundo!", "Ya no me importas nada", and "Sevillanas". She appeared in the 1964 film '' Búsqueme a esa chica'' with Dúo Dinámico. The film had biographical elements, featuring Marisol singing "Mi pequeña estrella", "Typical Spanish", and "Solo a ti". She appeared in the 1964 film '' La historia de Bienvenido'', a story about a donkey.

As an actress

In 1967, Marisol starred in the comedy '' Las cuatro bodas de Marisol'', as the daughter of actress Isabel Garcés, and sang "La Boda", "Johnny", "Belen, Belen" (featuring Peret), and "La Tarara" (inspired by a García Lorca poem). She appeared in '' Solos los dos'' (1968), where she sang "La nieve" (her most popular song in South America, composed by Juan Pardo and

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress with a career spanning more than four decades. She performed pop music, bolero, mariachi and romanti ...

's husband, Júnior). In 1969, she appeared in the unsuccessful '' Carola de día, Carola de noche'' and in the musical comedy '' El taxi de los conflictos'', where she sang "", a song composed by Palito Ortega. Marisol received the Best Actress Award at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

for her role in '' Los días del pasado'' (1978). She also appeared in '' The Corruption of Chris Miller'' (1973), directed by

Juan Antonio Bardem Juan Antonio Bardem Muñoz (2 June 1922 – 30 October 2002) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter, born in Madrid. Bardem was best known for '' Muerte de un ciclista'' (1955) which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1955 Cannes Film Festiv ...

; ''

The Girl from the Red Cabaret ''The Girl from the Red Cabaret'' (Spanish: ''La chica del Molino Rojo'') is a 1973 Spanish musical film, musical drama film directed by Eugenio Martín and starring Marisol (actress), Marisol, Renaud Verley and Mel Ferrer.Historical Dictionary of ...

'' (1973) with

, and '' El poder del deseo'' (1975) with Pilar Bardem. As an adult, Marisol changed her stage name to her given name, Pepa Flores and appeared in

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career th ...

's '' Blood Wedding'' (based on García Lorca's play), and in ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (1983). She played the title role of Mariana Pineda in the

Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in Equatorial Guinea. T ...

(TVE) series '' Proceso a Mariana Pineda'' in 1984, and was applauded for her lead role in the 1985's ''

Caso cerrado ''Caso cerrado'' (''Case Closed''), formerly ''Sala de parejas'' (''Couples' Court''), is a Spanish language court show that aired on Telemundo from 2001-2019 in which Cuban-American lawyer Ana María Polo arbitrates cases for volunteer parti ...

'', one of the first films featuring

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

. Pablo Mérida and Paloma Blanco Aristín in their book ''El cine español'' credit Saura with succeeding to bring Marisol out of retirement/seclusion to star in ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Carmen''. Then, ''Caso cerrado'' was advertised as her comeback feature, but after its failure she had to play "cat-and-mouse" with the media in Donostia where she stayed for three days. According to some, it was the movie's flop that led to her definitive retirement.

Personal life and family

On 16 May 1969, Marisol married Carlos Goyanes Perojo, son of her producer. They separated in 1972. In 1973, she started a relationship with dancer

Antonio Gades Antonio Esteve Ródenas or Antonio Gades (14 November 1936 – 20 July 2004) was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer. He helped to popularize the art form on the international stage. He was born in Elda, Alicante, and was the father ...

, and she has three daughters with him. María Esteve, the eldest, is an actress, and , the youngest, is a pop flamenco singer. After her divorce from Perojo, Flores and Gades married in 1982 in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and their godparents were

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

and

Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019) was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is bes ...

. They divorced on 1986, and Gades died in 2004. She was a sympathizer (but not a member) of the Spanish Communist Party, distancing herself from the party after her separation from Gades. Pepa Flores is retired and lives with Massimo Stecchini, her partner since 1987, in Malaga, where she works for charitable causes. In the wake of the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

, the claims Marisol made to Francisco Umbral and '' Interviú'' in the late 1970s about the sexual abuse she underwent as a child star resurfaced in Spanish '' Vanity Fair'' in 2018. *Victoria (Grandmother) **Maria Gonzalez (Mother) – Juan Flores ***Josefa Flores González (Marisol) –

**** Maria Esteve (Daughter) **** (Daughter) ****Tamara Gades (Daughter)

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

* 1960 – Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle, Spain ''(Sindicato Nacional del Espectáculo)'': ″Special Mention″ for her performance in ''A Ray of Light''. * 1972 – 3rd position OTI Festival prize for her song "Niña". * 1978 – Best Actress Award at the

for the film '' Los días del pasado'' directed by Mario Camus. * 2020 – Honorary Goya Award

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

*
Marisol-Pepa Flores, la estrella malagueña de España
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marisol 1948 births Living people Musicians from Málaga Actresses from Málaga Spanish film actresses Spanish child actresses Spanish child singers Spanish television actresses 20th-century Spanish actresses 20th-century Spanish singers 20th-century Spanish women singers