María del Rocío Trinidad Mohedano Jurado September 18, 1944 – June 1, 2006) was a Spanish singer and actress. She was born in Chipiona, Cádiz, Spain and was nicknamed "La más grande" ("The Greatest"). Jurado was once married to boxer Pedro Carrasco, with whom she had a daughter, Rocío Carrasco. Divorced, she married bullfighter José Ortega Cano, and they adopted two children, Gloria Camila and José Fernando. In 2001, Pedro Carrasco died of cardiorespiratory failure

Career

Jurado began performing flamenco at a very young age, debuting on the big screen in 1962 with Los guerrilleros, acting alongside Manolo Escobar. She also played a main role in 1966's Proceso a una estrella and 1971's Una chica casi decente. While temporarily living in Argentina, the Spanish diva participated in a successful musical called La zapatera prodigiosa, based on Federico García Lorca's work. After teaming with composer Manuel Alejandro, Rocío Jurado became a major and beloved figure on the Latin music scene, acclaimed throughout America and Spain after releasing Muera el amor and Señora, among other hits.

Illness

In 2004, Jurado was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for which she was treated in Houston, Texas in 2006. In April 2006, she was also treated for acute liver failure in a hospital in Madrid, Spain. On May 26, 2006, Spain's Culture Minister Carmen Calvo announced that Jurado had suffered a stroke, an assertion denied by Jurado's personal physician Dr. Domingo and by her brother and manager Amador Mohedano. She died at 5:15 in the morning on June 1st, 2006, at her home in La Moraleja, Madrid, aged 61. She is buried in her hometown, Chipiona, Cadiz, in the San José Cemetery.

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