María Laria

María Joséfa Laria Hernández (born May 7, 1959, in Havana, Cuba)[1] is a Cuban-American journalist, musician, novelist and television personality. A pianist, she is better known by United States audiences as the presenter of the Telemundo Internacional television talk-show, "Cara a Cara con María Laria", which was shown for many years.[2]

Early life

Laria is the daughter of Amaro Lauria and Ofelia Hernández. Born in Cuba, Laria was exposed to multiple cultures from a young age, as she and her family moved around a lot, first to New Mexico when she was 5 years old,[3] and then to Miami, Florida, before setting in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, Laria studied music, as she was a student at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico.

Career

In October 1990, Laria's show, "Cara a Cara con María Laria" ("Face to Face with María Laria") debuted on Telemundo's U.S.A. network. Initially, magazines such as Entertainment Weekly compared Laria to Oprah Winfrey.[4] The show lasted a number of seasons.

Among her show's best known episodes were one where she interviewed Mexican actress and singer Lucia Mendez,[5] and one where she interviewed Antonio Pedro, a Mexican man who claimed to be legendary singer Pedro Infante.[6]

During that time, Laria earned various honors by the United States' government, including the declaring of "María Laria day" by Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley.[7] Her show, which was initially recorded from Los Angeles, was moved by Telemundo from that city to Miami, Florida, and it was considered a competitor to Cristina Saralegui's Univision's "Show de Cristina". But, after "Cara a Cara con María Laria" was cancelled by Telemundo, Laria moved to Spain, where she began hosting a series of new television talk shows.[7]

Later, during the late 2000s, Laria hosted a television show named "Arrebatados" ("Snatched Away Ones", but which literally translates better to "Crazed Ones") on the America TV television channel; the show was cancelled in 2018 after a decade on the air.[8] That year (2018) was a bad year personally for Laria (see below).

Musical career

A trained musician as a pianist, Laria has released one album in both vinyl and CD formats, the piano music album "Pianissimo" (1998), which was re-released in 2010 as "Pianissimo...live from Jordan Hall".[9]

Writing career

In 2015, Laria became a novelist, releasing a book named "Fear of Love",[10] about a male pianist named "Jean Claude", who experiences fame and success but feels lonely until he meets ballet dancer "Paulina".[11]

Radio career

Since 2018, Laria has hosted a radio show named "María Laria: Bajo el Sol" ("María Laria: Under the Sun") on a radio station named La Poderosa FM.[12]

Personal life

Laria married Vietnam War veteran Carlos Ceballos late in the 1970s. In 2018, after a 40-year marriage, Laria lost her husband to an unspecified disease. After his passing, she set up a Gofundme account to cover funeral costs. In it, she called the moment the worst of her life.[13]

2018 was a very bad year for Laria: not only did her husband die, but so did her mom, and her television show, "Arrebatados", was cancelled after being transmitted for ten years.[14]

See also

References
  1. "– MARÍA LARIA, Periodista, Productora Ejecutiva, Pianista y Actriz. VIDEOS". The History, Culture and Legacy of the People of Cuba. 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  2. https://account.elnuevoherald.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=80394067&intcid=ab_archive
  3. Diario las Americas. "La arrebatada vida de María Laria en la pantalla chica". Diariolasamericas.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  4. November 23, Benjamin Svetkey Updated; EST, 1990 at 05:00 AM. "Television for spanish-speaking Americans". EW.com.
  5. "Lucia Mendez… en el Programa "Cara a Cara" con María Laria (Miami, USA)". YouTube. 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  6. "Antonio Pedro en Cara a Cara con María Laria, La entrevista". YouTube. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  7. por Vivi Lemus. "¿Qué pasó con María Laria? – Guatevision". Guatevision.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  8. "América TeVé cancela el show Arrebatados y despide a Maria Laria". CiberCuba. March 13, 2018.
  9. "Laria: CDs y Vinilo" (in Spanish). Amazon.com. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  10. "María Laria presentó su libro Fear of Love". Americateve.com. 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  11. Roman, Carl (15 March 2015). Fear of Love: 9780986303302: Laria, Maria: Libros. ISBN 978-0986303302.
  12. https://account.elnuevoherald.com/paywall/stop?resume=208621024
  13. "La periodista cubana María Laria pide ayuda económica tras la muerte de su esposo". CiberCuba. November 7, 2018.
  14. Nombre * (7 November 2018). "La presentadora cubana Maria Laria en una difícil situación económica pide ayuda". Cubaenmiami.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
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