Nélida Roca (; May 30, 1929December 4, 1999), was one of the first showbusiness

diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...

s and sex symbols of Argentina. She was an actress, dancer, singer, model and theater supervedette. Born Nélida Mercedes Musso in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, her friends and colleagues fondly called her ''La Roca'' ("The Rock"). From

childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, she sought to become a famous artist, but had to confront her parents' strong opposition to the idea. Her mother was from the Galicia region of Spain, and her father was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

man from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. Nélida married Julio Rivera Roca, a jazz piano player, in 1949, which got her to complete her dream as the lead vocalist in his orchestra. She was discovered in 1950, during one such performance, by

Luis César Amadori Luis César Amadori (28 May 1902 in Pescara, Abruzzi, Kingdom of Italy, Italy – 5 June 1977 in Buenos Aires) was an Italian - Argentina, Argentine film director and screenwriter and one of the most influential directors in the Cinema of Argen ...

, owner of the Maipó Theatre, and first starred on the professional stage in Amadori's ''The Maipó Theatre is Telling its Stories''. The show's commercial success allowed Amadori to triple the price of the seats, and she became a legend in her genre during the 1950s. Critics and her public came to know her as "The Venus of

Corrientes Avenue Avenida Corrientes () is one of the principal thoroughfares of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. The street is intimately tied to the tango and the porteño sense of identity. Like the parallel avenues Santa Fe, Córdoba, and San Juan, it ...

" (the Buenos Aires

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

district). She remarried in 1963 with vocalist Aldo Perricone (known by his stage name, Ricky Giuliano), though the marriage ended in 1969. In her last show, in the winter of 1974, she shared top credits with the then up-and-coming star, Susana Giménez. The show, ''The Golden Revue'', her last performance, dealt with cultural changes in Argentina over the years.

Death

She died of a heart attack in December 1999, at age 70.

References

Sources

''Clarín'': Murió Nélida Roca, la reina de la revista porteña

''La Nación'': Nélida Roca, adiós a un mito porteño

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roca, Nelida 1929 births 1999 deaths Actresses from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine people of Galician descent Argentine stage actresses Argentine female dancers Argentine female models Cabaret singers Burlesque performers Argentine vedettes Argentine musical theatre actresses Argentine musical theatre female dancers Argentine musical theatre women singers Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery 20th-century Argentine actresses 20th-century Argentine women singers 20th-century Argentine dancers 21st-century Argentine women