Verónica Forqué Vázquez-Vigo (; 1 December 1955 – 13 December 2021) was a Spanish stage, film and television actress. She was a four-time

Goya Award The Goya Awards () are Spain's main national annual film awards. They are presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. The first ceremony was held in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Ar ...

winner, the most award-winning actress alongside

Carmen Maura María del Carmen García Maura (born 15 September 1945) is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, she has starred in films such as '' Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'', '' ¡Ay Carmela!'', '' Common Wealth'', an ...

. She had a knack for characters "between ridiculous and tender, stunned and vehement".

Biography

Background

Forqué was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 1 December 1955, to a family with an artistic background: her mother was the writer María del and her father was filmmaker José María Forqué. Her grandfather, , was a musician and composer. She had an older brother, film director Álvaro Forqué. She began to study for a degree in psychology, but at the age of 17, switched to drama.

Beginnings

Her first film appearances were in the movie '' My Dearest Senorita'', under the direction of

Jaime de Armiñán Jaime de Armiñán Oliver (9 March 1927 – 9 April 2024) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. His films have been nominated for Academy Awards in the Foreign language film category twice, in 1972 for and in 1980 for ''The Nest (1980 ...

in 1972 and her second appearance was in ', a movie directed by her father. Onstage, she debuted in 1975, at age 19, with

Núria Espert Núria Espert Romero (born 11 June 1935 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish theatre and television actor, and theatre and opera director. When she was 19 years old, she married the actor :es:Armando Moreno, Armando M ...

in the play ''Divinas palabras''. Other early dramatic roles on stage include those of "Laura" in ''El zoo de cristal'' and "María" in ''María la mosca''.

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

selected Forqué for the European Spanish-language dub of

Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress and producer. She is known for her distinctive screen presence, her portrayals of eccentric characters, and her later productions in children's programming. Her acco ...

(playing the role of "

Wendy Torrance Winnifred "Wendy" Torrance is a fictional character and protagonist of the 1977 horror novel '' The Shining'' by the American writer Stephen King. She also appears in the prologue of '' Doctor Sleep'', a 2013 sequel to ''The Shining''. Characte ...

") in '' The Shining'' (1980). She married director in 1981; they had a daughter, María. In 1982, she featured in the television series ''Ramón y Cajal'' directed by her father; she played the wife of

Santiago Ramón y Cajal Santiago Ramón y Cajal (; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or M ...

, Silveria Fañanás García.

Breakout

Her career took a leap forward with her breakout performance as Cristal, "a toothy heart-of-gold hooker" in

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

's 1984 film, '' What Have I Done to Deserve This?'' She landed her first major television role in the 1985 sitcom ''Platos rotos'', earning a Fotogramas de Plata in 1986 for her performance as Loli. She won her first

with a supporting role in

Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish filmmaker, writer, producer and book editor. Career Between 1974 and 1979, Trueba worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper '' El Paí ...

's 1986 film '' Year of Enlightment''. In 1988, she won the Goya Awards for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, for her roles in '' La vida alegre'' and ''

Moors and Christians ''Moros y Cristianos'' () or ''Moros i Cristians'' (), literally in English Moors and Christians, is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencian Community. According ...

'', respectively. She and Emma Suárez are the only two to have won two Goyas in the same year. Of Forqué's performance as a doctor treating

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

in ''La vida alegre'', Paula Corroto wrote in ''

El Confidencial ''El Confidencial'' is a Spanish-language general-information digital newspaper located in Spain, specializing in economic, financial and political news. It was established as an online newspaper in 2001. Its target readership is professional ...

'', Forqué's "smile (and laughter) were forever in the hearts of everyone who saw this film. A comedian from head to toe." Forqué played the lead in Almodóvar's ''

Kika Kika may refer to: People * Kika de la Garza (1927–2017), American politician * Kika Edgar (born 1985), Mexican actress and singer * Kika Karadi (born 1975), American contemporary artist * Kika Markham (born 1940), English actress * Kika M ...

'' (1993). A review by

Stanley Kauffmann Stanley Kauffmann (April 24, 1916 – October 9, 2013) was an American writer, editor, and critic of film and theater. Career Kauffmann started with ''The New Republic'' in 1958 and contributed film criticism to that magazine for the next 55 ye ...

in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' said her part in the film was "a better role than her American debut in Jimmy Hollywood, but it doesn't make the most of this spirited comedienne."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', found Forqué's performance "spirited and appealing, never in danger of being overpowered by ersurroundings." She starred in television series such as '' Pepa y Pepe'' (1995) and '' La vida de Rita'' (2003). The former series, loosely inspired by ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'' and earning audience ratings breaking seven million viewers mark and 40% share, earned Forqué a great deal of popularity in Spain.

Late career

Forqué fell into a depression in the wake of her 2014 separation from Iborra, a situation aggravated by the death of her brother Álvaro some months later. In 2017, she won the Nacho Martínez award from the

Gijón International Film Festival The Gijón International Film Festival ( or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain. The festival is mainly concentrated on independent and auteur cinema. Gijón's International Short Film Competition ...

. At the

5th Feroz Awards The 5th award ceremony of the Feroz Awards was held at Polideportivo Antonio Magariños, in Madrid, on January 22, 2018. It was hosted by Julián López and aired on #0. Winners and nominees The nominees were announced on December 5, 2017. The ...

(2018), Forqué received the Honorary Award, which recognised her long career. One of Forqué's last starring roles was in the Ángeles Reiné's LGBTQ romantic comedy film ''So My Grandma's a Lesbian'', playing Sofía, the lesbian partner of the character Rosa María Sardá played in her final role; the film was released in 2020 after Sardá's death. A participant in the sixth season of the competitive reality television cooking show '' MasterChef Celebrity'', she quit the show during the November 2021 semifinal, citing exhaustion.

Death

Forqué was found dead in her Madrid residence on 13 December 2021 at the age of 66. The cause of death was

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...

. She left two posthumous performances in feature films: '' 1000 Miles from Christmas'' (released on 24 December 2021) and '' Espejo, espejo'' (released on 20 May 2022). She was also providing the voice for Rose in the upcoming animation series ''Pobre diablo'', yet some scenes were still pending for recording; Buendía Estudios declined immediate comment on the show's future.

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forque, Veronica 1955 births 2021 deaths 2021 suicides 20th-century Spanish actresses 21st-century Spanish actresses Suicides by hanging in Spain Actresses from Madrid Best Supporting Actress Goya Award winners Spanish film actresses Spanish people of Argentine descent Spanish stage actresses Spanish television actresses