Lola Flores; Spanish Singer, Actress Embodied Latin Entertainment
Lola Flores, an international symbol of fiery Latin entertainment, died Monday of lung cancer at her home on the outskirts of Madrid.
Family sources told National Radio that she also had recently contracted pneumonia. She was 72.
Known as “the Pharaonic One” or “Lola of Spain,” Dolores Flores was born in 1923 in the southwestern town of Jerez de la Frontera. She began her singing and dancing career in Andalusian bars at the age of 10. Not only talented, she also was considered a great natural beauty.
In the 1940s she formed a successful duet with flamenco and folk singer Manolo Caracol.
On screen, she is most remembered for her roles as the singing and dancing Mexican or Gypsy girl in Mexican, Spanish and a few American films.
She later starred in several popular Spanish television series and toured the world, appearing regularly at the Million Dollar Theater in Downtown Los Angeles.
A supporter of the late Gen. Francisco Franco, Miss Flores was said to have performed for the dictator every year on July 18, the anniversary of the rebellion by Franco and his nationalist forces that set off the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
She is survived by her husband, flamenco guitarist Antonio Gonzalez, and their three children.
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