Rocio Durcal

She started her career as a fresh-faced ingenue, just 17 years old and touring the world thanks to Spanish impresarios who paved the way for the young Rocio Durcal to become a film star. And she did, starring in films starting with Cancion de Juventud in 1962. It was a heady journey for a girl who'd grown up in a working class Madrid neighborhood, the oldest of six children. Durcal frequently missed school to help raise her siblings, but she also cherished dreams of performing, competing on radio shows until she was finally discovered on the Spanish TV show Primer Applauso. By the end of the '60s, Durcal settled down with Antonio Morales, the Filipino singer-songwriter who led Los Brincos. The couple had three children, and in 1975 Durcal officially retired from film to concentrate on family. But she couldn't stay away from the limelight for long: An encounter with Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel convinced Durcal to try her hand at ranchera, the traditional Mexican music. The duo found success, and Durcal stayed in the pop charts for another three decades. She contracted uterine cancer in 2001 and, after a long battle, passed away in 2006 at the age of 61.