Paquita Rico
Who is Paquita Rico?
Francisca Rico Martínez (Seville, October 13, 1929 – Seville, July 9, 2017), known professionally as Paquita Rico, was a copla singer and film actress, one of the great stars of 20th-century Spanish folkloric entertainment. Born in the Corral de la Perla, in Seville’s Triana neighbourhood, the daughter of a fishmonger, she trained from a young age at Adelita Domingo’s academy and with Pepe Pinto’s company. After winning a radio contest, she made her debut while still a teenager with the Ballet Español del Marqués de Montemar, where she met Carmen Sevilla and Ana Esmeralda, with whom she remained close friends for life.
Career
She was discovered by director Florián Rey, who gave her a film debut in 1948 with “Brindis a Manolete,” her first film, which brought her immediate popularity. From then on she combined her career as a folk singer with numerous films: “Debla, la virgen gitana” (1951), selected for the Cannes Film Festival; “Malvaloca” (1954); “Suspiros de Triana”; and “Curra Veleta.” Her career reached its peak in 1958 when she played Queen María de las Mercedes de Orleans, the first wife of Alfonso XII, in “¿Dónde vas, Alfonso XII?,” directed by Argentine filmmaker Luis César Amadori, alongside Vicente Parra. In 1962 she starred in “El balcón de la luna” with her friends Lola Flores and Carmen Sevilla, one of the most memorable Spanish films of the era. Among the songs the public always associated with her voice are “El beso” and “Adiós, marinero.”
Personal life
She was married from 1960 to 1965 to bullfighter Juan Ordóñez, whose suicide marked one of the most painful episodes of her life; she later rebuilt her personal life alongside Canarian businessman Guillermo Arocha. A devotee of the Esperanza de Triana, she always cited Pastora Imperio, Estrellita Castro and Imperio Argentina as her great artistic influences. In 2010 Seville’s city council dedicated a commemorative tile to her on Calle Fabié, in her native Triana.
Legacy
Paquita Rico died on July 9, 2017, at the Hospital Infanta Luisa in Seville, at the age of 87, after a life devoted equally to film and copla. She remains associated with some of the most popular titles of Spanish folkloric cinema, and her name is still fondly remembered in her native Seville.