Concha Velasco

Concepción Velasco Varona (29 November 1939 – 2 December 2023), known professionally as Concha Velasco, also Conchita Velasco, was a Spanish actress, singer, dancer, television presenter, and theatrical producer. She received numerous accolades throughout her career in film, theater, and television spanning over six decades, including two National Theater Awards presented by the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 1972 and 2016, the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Spanish Television Academy in 2009, and the Honorary Goya Award presented by the Spanish Film Academy in 2012. Some of her credits include leading film performances in Red Cross Girls (1958), Los tramposos (1959), The Fair of the Dove (1963), Television Stories (1965), The Witching Hour (1985), and Beyond the Garden (1996); leading stage performances in ¡Mamá, quiero ser artista!, in several plays that author Antonio Gala wrote for her, and in the Spanish productions of Filumena Marturano and Hello, Dolly!; leading television performances in Teresa de Jesús and Herederos on Televisión Española, Motivos personales on Telecinco, and Gran Hotel on Antena 3; as well as a television presenter in numerous shows for those three networks. Velasco had been also the recipient of many honours. The Government of Spain honoured her with the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 1987, the Gold Medal of Merit in Labour in 2008, the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise in 2016, and the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic posthumously in 2023. The Spanish Film Academy honoured her with its Gold Medal in 2003.