Concha Velasco: a life on stage, screen and beyond

Personal and professional life Concha Velasco (Valladolid, 1939). Noted for boundless energy and renowned talent, she is celebrated for much more than movie scripts.

The artist has appeared in more than 80 films, countless theater plays, musicals and popular television series. In addition, she embraced the role of presenter, a path that helped finance her theatrical dreams.

For all this, Velasco is gone. She died this Saturday at the age of 84. In fact, one of the most beloved Spanish artists stepped away from the media spotlight after years of professional success alongside emotional ups and downs.

Actress Concha Velasco passed away at the age of 84

early career

She showed promise even as a child. While studying classical dance, she made her debut with the A Coruña Opera Dance Association. She later appeared as a dancer in Manolo Caracol’s company and also worked as a magazine girl with Celia Gámez.

At only 15 years old, she began her cinema career with a role in the film La Reina Mora. Her big success arrived two years later with Red Cross Girls, which made her one of Spain’s most popular faces.

Many films followed this breakout, and in 1965 she shot Television Stories. After its release, she became forever known as the yeyé girl, a name tied to the Augusto Algueró song she sang in the movie. Her success in music led to eight more albums, though she never established herself as a dedicated singer.

She tackled all genres with ease: comedy, drama, and musicals. She triumphed on television as the lead in various dramatic productions such as Teresa de Jesús (1984) and as a presenter, actor and dancer in variety shows like Long live the show. Her solid work and popular appeal opened doors to collaborations with directors such as Pedro Olea, Josefina Molina and Luis García Berlanga, leaving a lasting imprint on her evolving career and life choices.

Concha Velasco, once the young icon who became the grand lady of Spanish theater, built a wide and lasting legacy.

Loves and heartbreaks

The first love of her life was unrequited: the son of the famed singer Manolo Caracol, who was rejected due to age.

The first man to win her heart in years was director José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, who was 28 years her senior. He cast her as the lead in El indulto alongside Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz. “José Luis was a man I loved deeply and from whom I learned a lot, but perhaps he did not love me as much as I loved him,” Velasco recalled in an interview, noting a romance that lasted more than a decade.

In the early 70s she left Sáenz de Heredia and, after acting in cinema, Fernando Fernán Gómez — an actor she regards as a platonic love and the best kisser in cinema — steered her toward theater, giving her a new direction in her career.

Shortly after, Velasco fell in love with the famed Sevillian artist Juan Diego. They starred together in Antonio Buero Vallejo’s The Coming of the Gods. They ended their relationship after three years but remained friends; he hoped to marry her and often thanked her for shaping his social awareness.

According to Velasco, her great love Manolo Escobar remained married to Anita Marx, though she says she was very much in love with him. She chose friendship with his wife over pursuing a romance and has spoken about this many times.

Later, the cinematographer entered her life. Fernando Arribas, another married man, appeared in projects such as Tormento, Pim, pam, pum… fire! They worked together on several films, including Blanca’s Vacation, but the relationship soon ended.

Actor and director Adolfo Marsillach, with whom Velasco collaborated many times, introduced her to the man who would become her life partner: producer Paco Marsó. “An earthquake changed my life,” Velasco recounted in her memoirs.

On September 4, 1976, Velasco and Marsó welcomed their first child, Manuel. Notably, she did not publicly disclose the father’s identity until 2021, revealing on a television program that Manuel’s father is Fernando Arribas.

Velasco and Marsó married on April 18, 1977, in an intimate ceremony with few guests.

Crises

The couple welcomed their second child, Paco, on April 5, 1979. They enjoyed years of success but also faced economic setbacks and infidelity.

The years of glory included the founding of her own theater company and the hit television series Spanish Musical Comedy, yet those times were followed by embargoes and debts that strained the family finances.

After several crises and mounting difficulties, the couple separated in 2005. Marsó stopped acting as her representative and managed the debts to the Treasury on his own. In 1998, Velasco had to sell her La Moraleja house and later moved into an older Madrid apartment that she also had to sell.

The difficult period intensified when Marsó publicized his gambling problems and infidelities during their 28 years together. In 2009, news emerged that Velasco had married a young Cuban woman with whom he would have children. The breakup left Velasco shaken, but she focused on her children and her career. In November 2010 she traveled to Malaga to bid farewell to the man who had been central to her life, a poignant moment in an eventful personal history.