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Laura García Soroa (December 23, 1955 – October 24, 2021), better known as Laura Frenchkiss, was a Spanish actress, vedette, sex worker, and LGBT rights activist, known for her role as Rocío in the Atresmedia web series Veneno.

Early life and career

She was abandoned in an orphanage shortly after her birth. At the age of 4, she was adopted by a couple from Valencia, who sent her to study at La Salle boarding school. Later, after the death of her adoptive father, she was abandoned again, as her mother could not take care of her due to depression and epileptic seizures. After expressing her gender identity and desire to be a woman, Laura was admitted to a psychiatric center until she was 18 years old.

As an adult, she obtained a hairdressing qualification and found a partner, although both were beaten while hitchhiking in an attempt to move to Barcelona.

At the age of 20, she began working as a sex worker and performing as a vedette in venues such as La Modelo, where she was arrested and subsequently imprisoned twice under the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes (Vagrancy Act), which was in effect until 1978.

Later, Laura was one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery in Spain, also investing 1,600,000 pesetas in changing her national identity card.

Laura sought political asylum in France, where she lived for a time before returning to Spain. Upon her return, she resumed work as a sex worker, this time in the Guadalhorce industrial estate in Torremolinos, until she met Antonio Pozo, manager of the Parthenon nightclub, who offered her a job as the club's public relations representative.

In 2020, she played the role of Rocío in the Atresmedia web series Veneno, based on the memoirs of sex worker and vedette Cristina La Veneno, with whom Frenchkiss had worked in prostitution in Parque del Oeste years earlier.

In October 2021, she died at the age of 66 from a heart attack on the street in Torremolinos while returning home after working at the Parthenon nightclub, as she regularly did.

Tributes

After her death, Laura received a tribute in the city of Torremolinos in the square dedicated to the trans community, near the town hall square. The event was attended by Laura's family and friends, as well as the Councilor for Equality Carmen García, and council members Nicolás de Miguel and Lucía Cuín.

Among the celebrities who publicly mourned her passing were directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, as well as actress and co-star Daniela Santiago.

Filmography

Television series

References

1. Soto, Juan (October 24, 2021). "Fallece en Torremolinos Laura Frenchkiss, la actriz de 'Veneno' y querida activista LGTBI" [Laura Frenchkiss, the actress of 'Veneno' and beloved LGTBI activist, passed away in Torremolinos, Spain.]. Diario Sur (in Spanish).
2. ^ Vargas, Isabel (October 26, 2021). "Laura Frenchkiss, el icono de la lucha trans en Torremolinos que sobrevivió a Franco, al crack y al sida" [Laura Frenchkiss, the icon of the transgender struggle in Torremolinos who survived Franco, crack and AIDS.]. El Español (in Spanish).
3. "'Veneno' es un prodigio: un biopic legendario en Atresplayer que marca un antes y un después en la filmografía de los Javis" ['Veneno' is a prodigy: a legendary biopic on Atresplayer that marks a before and after in the Javis' filmography]. Espinof (in Spanish). October 20, 2020.
4. "Muere la actriz Laura Frenchkiss, conocida por su trabajo en 'Veneno'" [Actress Laura Frenchkiss, known for her work in 'Veneno', dies]. El Mundo (in Spanish). October 24, 2021.
5. Medianoche, Mike (October 25, 2021). "Muere a los 66 años la vedette Laura Frenchkiss, Rocío en la serie 'Veneno'" [Vedette Laura Frenchkiss, Rocío in the series 'Veneno', dies at 66 years old]. El Español (in Spanish).
6. "Revelada la causa de la muerte de Laura Frenchkiss, Rocío en 'Veneno'" [Cause of death of Laura Frenchkiss, Rocio in 'Veneno' revealed]. Antena 3 (in Spanish). October 30, 2021.
7. "Muere Laura Frenchkiss, una de las actrices más icónicas de la serie 'Veneno'" [Laura Frenchkiss, one of the most iconic actresses of the 'Veneno' series, dies]. La Sexta (in Spanish). October 24, 2021.
8. O., L. (November 3, 2021). "Torremolinos rinde homenaje a la vecina e icono LGTBIQ+ Laura Frenchkiss" [Torremolinos pays tribute to neighbor and LGTBIQ+ icon Laura Frenchkiss]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish).
9. "Los Javis lamentan la muerte de una de las actrices de su serie 'Veneno'" [Los Javis mourn the death of one of the actresses of their series 'Veneno'.]. Hola (in Spanish). October 25, 2021.

• Transgender rights activists
• Spanish LGBTQ rights activists
• Transgender sex workers
• 1955 births
• 2021 deaths
• Spanish vedettes
• Spanish prostitutes
• Spanish transgender actresses
• People from Bilbao