Good Lifestyle

The iconic American singer -songwriter Bob Dylan once said that "being famous can be a great burden", and the case of Sonia Martínez is a sign that, sometimes, bringing that burden is not a well paid work. Three decades after his death, the life of who was one of the most beloved presenters of Spanish television, especially among the children's audience, is remembered thanks to the publication of the documentary The last night of Sonia Martínez , produced by the Spanish television channel. In him, friends and family of the Madrid joined to claim his memory. This is his tragic story.

Its beginnings

Born in Madrid on September 23, 1963, Sonia's childhood passed normally between her studies and her fondness for swimming, a sport where she got to win local championships. He shared his love for sport with his sister, Irene, who was a professional gymnast. However, at age 15 he decided to stop studying and swim to get to work, which took her later to get a job in a hairdresser. There, in 1982, with just 19 years, an acquaintance convinced her to appear at a casting which would organize Spanish Television (TVE) for a new project. Thanks to his charisma, he was selected with three other boys to 3, 2, 1 ... contact , a scientific dissemination program aimed at children and young people.

The dream bride

Just a year later that program was canceled, but Sonia's work was so good that TVE chose her to be the presenter of Dabadabada , which was the main children's space of the channel and the one that ended up catapulting its fame. "It was a spark, I had a joy in the face and very unusual voice on the TV of that time." They are statements by Paco Carabias in the documentary. Paco was the actor who gave voice to his homonymous puppet and shared screen with the young woman. For his part, the writer Jorge San Román said that "she was the girlfriend that many boys of the time would have wanted to have." In addition, she began to be invited to parties of famous Spanish celebrities of that time, so the paparazzi They became more and more attention to her. It was precisely a photo that would mark the beginning of the end of his career.

He shock of a change

In 1984, Dabadabada It was canceled. It was then that, on vacation to a beach in Sitges (Catalonia), the paparazzi They captured her without the top of her bikini. When the photos arrived in the pink press the public remained in shock They saw her as that young girl who spoke to her young children every afternoon through television. However, at that time Sonia sought to take her first steps in the cinema, so she took advantage of the uproar and accepted the offer of the magazine Interview To appear naked on its cover. This led to accepting a role in the movie Street bitches (1985) playing a rather adult character. Even so, in 1986 he managed to be selected to present the educational program In nature , also of youth. But that same year it was photographed in topless Again, this time in Ibiza. Some time later it was learned that she had made a deal with the magazine she sent to the paparazzi To earn some money. This ended up being charged with his work.

The decline begins

Irene, Sofia's sister, tells her documentary: “When she was doing cinema, she told me that she was advised not to give that image presenter for children's programs, who had to give an image of an adult woman, who could access Movies with another look ”, which explains why the presenter accepted those photographs. After those nudes, TVE did not renew his contract and since then it was very difficult to get jobs. In an interview, Sonia came to say that it was actually a dismissal because "I did not access the sexual claims of a program executive (...) The photos was only" an excuse. " Statements that her friend, actress Charo Reina, supports with her comments on The last night of Sonia Martínez .

Family tragedy

In the midst of all this, Sonia suffered another hard blow: her mother's death because of cancer. "There was no way to comfort her ... that was leading her to a gradual depression and that was not seen," says her sister. The young woman tried to cover the pain with parties and a trip to New York (United States) to try the American dream, but did not prosper. Back to Madrid, Sonia took refuge in drugs, specifically in cocaine and heroin. "At first, I foolish, until one day I got up with anxiety and desire to vomit, my soul hurt ... from that day I needed her (heroin) so from that moment I did not put me to put on, I put on to take away the pain that I had in the body, ”Sonia said in an interview. After her decline, her father sold her house and she stayed on the street, where she met another drug addict, who was pregnant.

Sad end

At 27, Sonia became a mother of a girl. But his drug addiction, discovering that he was a carrier of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the fact that he had to resort to prostitution because he did not get a job, made him just spent three years with his daughter, whom he had to Deliver to social services. The Government gave him a year to show that he could be a responsible mother before giving his child definitely for adoption. However, he did not succeed. Drugs and AIDS ended their life on September 4, 1994, while it was hospitalized at the La Concepción Clinic in Madrid and a few days after being 31 years old. In spite of everything, his son, who made the gender transition and is now called Hugo (in the image), talks about his mother with a lot of love in the aforementioned documentary, which seeks to shed a light on the dark and tragic story of Sonia.