María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz (; 21 January 1923 – 16 May 1995) was a Spanish actress, (flamenco dancer) and singer.
Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Flores became interested in the performing arts at a very young age. Known for her overwhelming personality onstage, she debuted as a dancer at age sixteen at the stage production , in her hometown. After being discovered by film director Fernando Mignoni, Flores moved to Madrid to pursue a professional career in music and film, with her first gig being the lead role in Mignoni's Martingala (1940). Flores succeeded as a film and stage actress. In 1943 she obtained her breakthrough role in the musical stage production Zambra alongside Manolo Caracol, in which she sang original compositions by Rafael de León, Manuel López-Quiroga Miquel and Antonio Quintero, including "" and "", mostly singing flamenco music, copla, rumba and ranchera. She then started to receive widespread media coverage.
In 1951, Flores signed a five-film contract with Suevia Films for a value of 6 million pesetas, which became the largest contract for a performing artist in Spanish history. Under that contract she starred in major productions like (1951), (1953), (1954) and (1962), among many others, which spawned the signature songs "" and "". Since then, she was popularly dubbed as ("the Pharaoh"). During her life, Flores performed in more than 35 films, pigeonholed, in many of them, in Andalusian folklore. As a , Flores enraged several generations of continents, although she distanced herself from flamenco canons. She also recorded over twenty albums, which she toured through Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Her strong personality, recognizable image, remarkable professional trajectory and sometimes controversial personal life, have turned Flores into a Spanish pop culture icon. She is often cited as the "biggest exporter of Andalusian culture to date" as well as a "pioneer", being tributed many times in recent television series and documentaries such as the biographical film Lola, the Movie (2007). Lola became the matriarch of what would later be the Flores family, filled with popular singers and television personalities such as Lolita Flores, Rosario, Alba Flores and Elena Furiase. In 1995, Lola Flores died, aged 72, in Alcobendas due to health complications caused by a breast cancer.
Life and career 1923–1950: Early life and career beginnings
Flores was the daughter of Pedro Flores Pinto (1897–1973) and Rosario Ruiz Rodríguez (1901–1989). Her father owned a bar and her mother worked making clothes. She learned to dance with María Pantoja and to understand flamenco with Sebastián Nuñez. Her debut at 16 years of age was with Custodia Romero's company in the Villamarta Theatre of Jerez de la Frontera. Shortly after leaving Jerez for Madrid, she rose to fame and soon signed the most expensive contract of the time (6 million pesetas in the 1950s) which launched her career, touring throughout Latin America.
In 1958, she married Antonio González el Pescaílla, a gypsy guitarist from Barcelona. She had three children: singer and actress Lolita Flores; rock musician, singer and actor Antonio Flores; and singer and actress Rosario Flores. Lola Flores, while one quarter gypsy through her maternal grandfather, Manuel, who was a street vendor, referred to herself as "paya" or non-gypsy Spanish. Nevertheless, she is considered an icon of the Gypsy and Roma community in Spain, particularly since she married into a gypsy family.
"La Faraona" died of breast cancer in 1995, aged 72, and was buried in the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid. Shortly after her death, her distraught 33-year-old son, Antonio Flores, committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates and was buried beside her.
In 2007, the biopic Lola, la película was made. The movie describes her early life, starting in 1931 until 1958.
Lola Flores, a native of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) was an icon of traditional Andalusian folklore, recognized throughout Spain as well as internationally. She became a famous dancer and singer of Andalusian folklore at a very young age, performing flamenco, copla, and chotis and appearing in films from 1939 to 1987.
Her father owned a bar and her mother was a dressmaker. She learned to dance with María Pantoja and to understand Flamenco culture with Sebastián Nuñez. Her debut at 16 years of age was with Custodia Romero's company in the Villamarta Theatre of Jerez de la Frontera. After several spectacles, she went to Madrid.
Shortly after leaving Jerez for Madrid, she rose to fame and soon signed the biggest contract of the time (6 million pesetas in the 1950s) which launched her career touring throughout Latin America.
In 1943, with the protection of business owner Adolfo Arenaza, Flores set out a performance named Zambra with Manolo Caracol, which with small variations would be kept several years with great success. Zambra was decisive for Lola Flores's career, a spectacle very organized in all his elements for the one that they chose to León Quintero and Quiroga and that had her culminating number in "La niña de fuego" and of that there went out also "La Zarzamora", one of the songs most associated with Lola.
The collaboration of the couple, who supported each other in both their private and professional life, led to a relationship that was more than professional reflected on the stage, and was very successful. This eventually lead them to become proper business owners. Together they produced two movies, "Embrujo" (1947) and "La niña de venta" (1951). In 1951, the professional and sentimental separation of the couple started, and they eventually stopped working together.
1951–1960: Career breakthrough and marriage In 1951 the Spanish film producer Suevia films wanted to consolidate a star-system of the Spanish cinema, which had his expansion towards America. The owner, Cesáreo González decided at the end of 1951 to contract Lola Flores. He signed an agreement with Lola Flores for two years and 5 films for an amount of six million pesetas. That contract included cinema, TV, theatre and also a tour along throughout America.
The agreement was signed in Bar Chicote, in Madrid with the cameras of NO-DO, which was a great advertising event. With this agreement, Lola Flores started filming news films like "La niña de la venta", with Ramón Torrado in 1951 and "¡Ay pena, penita, pena!" with Miguel Morayta in 1953. Lola also appeared in advertising campaigns as part of the agreement.
On 12 April 1952, Lola Flores went to Mexico with her family, where she obtained a great reception. From Mexico, she went to Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Ecuador, Buenos Aires and New York. It has gone down in history as an authoritative The New York Times review the following and famous quote that was never really written about her: "Lola Flores, a Spanish artist, she neither sings, and does not even dance, but you can't miss her". This statement has been spread all over the media as if it was true. The Spanish newspaper El País, conducted an investigation on the matter and concluded that it is part of the mythical history of the artist, but that this was never written in the New York Times.
On 27 October 1958, she married Antonio González el Pescaílla (1925–1999), a gypsy guitarist from Barcelona. She had three children: singer Lolita Flores (Dolores González Flores) (1958) Antonio Flores (Antonio Gónzález Flores) (1961–1995); and Rosario Flores (Rosario González Flores) (1963), they were one of the most famous families of artists in Spain. Moreover, Lola Flores was the sister of Carmen Flores (1936), and her nephew was the footballer and coach Quique Sánchez Flores (1965). She is the grandmother of the actress Elena Furiase and Guillermo Furiase (Lolita's children), the actress Alba Flores (Antonio's daughter), known for her role as 'Nairobi' in 'The Money Heist', and Lola Orellana and Pedro Antonio Lazaga (Rosario's children). She was the godmother of Carmen Morales, daughter of the famous singer and actress Rocio Dúrcal.
1960–1995: Decline of copla and legal problems In March 1987, The district attorney's office presented a complaint against the artist and her husband for not having presented the declarations of the income tax between the years 1982 and 1985, they had to pay a bail of 145 million pesetas (€871.561 ). In 1989, The Madrid provincial court decreed her absolution for a legal vacuum motivated by a judgment of the Constitutional Court that had annulled partially the Law of the tax.
Finally, Lola Flores was condemned by the Supreme Court in 1991, as the author of 4 crimes against the Inland Revenue. She was sentenced to two different punishments of a month and a day and two others of seven months in prison, but she would never serve the sentences. The process had an important social transcendence, since she was a very famous person and was chosen by the Inland Revenue as an example of their battle against tax fraud.
Discography
Studio albums Canta Lola Flores (, 1955) ¡Olé! (Seeco, 1957) Las Canciones De Lola Flores (Odeon Records, ca. 1959, compilation of La Voz de su Amo recordings, ca. 1954-1958) The Toast of Spain (Seeco, 1959) La fabulosa Lola Flores (Seeco, 1959) Lola Flores y Antonio González (, 1964) (with Antonio González '') Lola Flores y Antonio González (Discos Belter, 1966) (with Antonio González) La guapa de Cádiz (Discos Belter, 1966) (with Antonio González) Lola Flores y Antonio González (Discos Belter, 1968) (with Antonio González) Lola Flores (Discos Belter, 1969) Lola Flores (Discos Belter, 1971) Lola Flores (Discos Belter, 1972) Lola Flores (Discos Belter, 1973) Lola Flores (Discos Belter, 1974) Lola Flores (Columbia Gramophone (UK), 1974, compilation of ca. 1946-1962 recordings) Diferente Lola (CBS, 1980) Homenaje (Epic Records, 1990)
Extended plays Lola Flores recita poemas de Rafael de León (Discos Belter, 1967)
Cinema Lola Flores took part in 38 films, making her début in 1939 as an actress with the film Martingala by Fernando Mignoni. One of the most remarkable films is a classic from the 40s: (1947), Carlos Serrano de Osma), a musical drama where she accompanies Manolo Caracol, who was her boyfriend in those days.
In 1951 she signed a contract with Cesáreo González, and thanks to this partnership she enrolled (starred in) films such as La niña de la venta, with Ramón Torrado, (1951) and ¡Ay pena, penita, pena!, with Miguel Morayta, (1953).
Another of her distinguished films from the 1950s is Morena Clara (1954, Luis Lucia) which was an adaptation of the popular film from 1934, and in company of Fernando Fernán Gómez, El duende de Jerez (1953) and (1958), she also starred in her first film with Antonio "El Pescaílla" González. Other important films in which this artist took part were El volcán y la brisa, La hermana Alegría in 1954, El balcón de la luna in 1962, Sister San Sulpicio (1962), a new version different from the film in which Imperio Argentina had been involved and the Mexican dramas: (1956) and Sueños de oro (1958).