Cuban-American talk show host, musician, writer and journalist
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]
