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 ==