La Veneno

La Veneno was born in Adra, Spain, the child of José María Ortiz López (1930–2020) and María Jesús Rodríguez Rivera (born 1932).

She noted from an early age that she was different from other children.

She suffered aggression and abuse from people in her hometown and from her own family, who did not accept her sexual orientation.

At age 13, she moved with one of her sisters to San Pedro de Alcántara, with the Romero family after her parents kicked them both out of their house.

There she worked as a farmer and a shop assistant as well as a hairdresser and a model.

Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez (19 March 1964 – 9 November 2016), better known as La Veneno ('The Poison'), was a Spanish singer, actress, sex worker, and media personality.

In 1989, she won the contest for Míster Andalucía.

In 1991, she left Marbella for Madrid, where she worked as a hospital chef.

The same year, she appeared on the television dating show Vivan los novios, which she won.

The prize was a voyage to Bangkok alongside Charo, the partner she found on the show.

There, in Thailand, she attended a kathoey show where she realized that she was transgender.

Thus, in 1992, she started her process of transition.

After being fired from her job at the hospital, she worked as a sex worker in the Parque del Oeste in Madrid to pay her bills.

Considered one of the more important and beloved LGBT icons in Spain since her death, she rose to fame in 1996 after being discovered in the park where she worked as a sex worker by Faela Sainz, a reporter for the late-night talk show Esta noche cruzamos el Mississippi, broadcast on Telecinco from 1995 to 1997 and hosted by the journalist Pepe Navarro.

She later appeared regularly on the show as well as on La sonrisa del pelícano.

Distinguished for her spectacular appearance and profane humor, La Veneno was one of the early transgender women to become widely known in Spain, and she has been recognised as a pioneering trans icon.

There she was discovered in April 1996 by reporter Faela Saiz, who interviewed her for a TV feature on prostitution for the late-night show Esta noche cruzamos el Mississippi on Telecinco.

The interview, showcasing La Veneno's outrageous humour, was a hit.

The show's host, Pepe Navarro, subsequently invited her to become a regular contributor.

Her rise to fame was almost immediate, and she helped the program reach viewing figures of almost eight million.

In 1996, La Veneno recorded two singles, "Veneno pa' tu piel" and "El rap de La Veneno", with the first one being gold-certified for selling over 50,000 copies, and her career as a vedette and a television personality took off.

During the decade, she toured Spain, performing in galas and making personal appearances at nightclubs and festivals.

She also modeled for designers like Pepe Rubio and Antonio Alvarado.

When La sonrisa del pelícano ended, she spent a month doing TV work in Buenos Aires, before returning to Spain and participating in other programs for Telemadrid and Antena 3, among other channels.

She also took part in two pornographic films, El secreto de La Veneno and La venganza de La Veneno.

She also acted in six episodes of the series En plena forma, starring Alfredo Landa.

The show ended in July 1997 after political conflicts surrounding the Alcàsser Girls crime and moved to Antena 3 under the name La sonrisa del pelícano.

El Pelícano ended in December 1997 after three months of broadcasting after numerous rumors that a sex tape starring journalist and entrepreneur Pedro J. Ramírez would be aired on television.

In April 2003, Cristina was implicated in a case of arson and insurance fraud, and she was reported to the police by her then-boyfriend Andrea Petruzzelli.

She was accused of intentionally setting fire to her flat in order to claim the insurance money.

Found guilty, she was sentenced to three years in prison at the Centro Penitenciario Madrid VI in Aranjuez.

She was sent to an all-male prison as she hadn't changed her name to Cristina nor her gender in her identity papers.

She claimed that her parents didn't even know that she had entered prison until she called them after being sent to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital due to health issues in 2004.

Upon leaving prison in 2006, she moved to Valencia with friend Paca la Piraña.

The same year, Cristina told the media that she had been raped and abused by the prison guards.

This allegation was disputed by the Spanish prison authorities.

She openly spoke about her weight gain in prison as she reached 120 kg during her time in prison, and she was invited on several television programmes, marking an apparent recovery of her career.

In 2014, she reportedly served eight additional months in prison after being mistaken by police for another suspect.

Her second term was served in a female prison.

In 2020, a critically acclaimed series produced by Atresmedia following her life became a hit show in Spain.