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Rocio Banquells (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish pronunciation: [roˈsi.o banˈkels]; born Maria del Rocio Banquells Nunez, 22 June 1960 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) is a Mexican pop singer and actress, best known for her work on television, the stage and cinema of Mexico and Latin America. Her mezzo voice is one of the most versatile voices from Mexico. She sings operetta, ranchera, rock, and ballads.
Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1960, Rocio is the daughter of Cuban actor and director Rafael Banquells and the actress Dina de Marco. She is half-sister of the actress Sylvia Pasquel (daughter of Rafael Banquells and Silvia Pinal). Her other siblings are Jose Manuel, Janette, Mary Paz, Ariadne and Rafael Jr.
Rocio began her career as a special guest in the 1968 Banquells’s telenovela Gutierritoz. She moved to the stage in the early 1970s. In 1978 she starred in the musical Sound of Music along with the Mexican singer Lupita D’Alessio. Other stage performances of Rocio are in the Mexican versions of Grease, Evita, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
In 1979, Rocio starred in the Mexican telenovelas’s international success Los ricos tambien lloran, alongside Veronica Castro. Other memorable Banquells TV performances are Bianca Vidal (1983) and La fiera (1984). She realized memorable interpretations especially in playing evil characters. In 1985 she began her musical career with the album Rocio Banquells, that includes the 1980s superhits Este hombre no se toca, Luna Magica and Abrazame.
Banquells continued her musical career during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1997 a legal conflict caused the Banquells retirement for over 10 years. In 2006, Banquells returned in the Televisa’s reality show Cantando por un sueno, and in 2007 returned with a new album named Naci para ti, recorded live in the Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City. In the same year, she returned to TV in the telenovela Pasion. In 2009-2010 Banquells starred in the Mexican version of the successful musical Mamma Mia! as Donna.
In 2012, Banquells returned with the show Noches de Cabaret, along with the Mexican singers Lucia Mendez and Manoella Torres. For her work in the recording industry, stage and television Banquells’ handprints and star have been embedded onto the Paseo de las Luminarias in Mexico City, alongside her half-sister Sylvia Pasquel.
Banquells was married twice. The first time to Pedro Mendez from 1979 to 1984, father of her daughter Pamela, and the second the producer Jorge Berlanga from 1985 to 2005, father of her son Rodrigo.