Actor Cesc Queral, the popular Vicenteta from 'Tres picos y repicon', dies.

BarcelonaThe actor, director and theatre teacher Cesc Queral, creator of one of the most legendary characters on TV3, Vicenteta from the contest Three peaks and a chirp, passed away this Friday, according to her family. Armed with her distinct Valencian accent and picturesque clothing and makeup, Vicenteta cracked local jokes that catapulted her to the podium of the most beloved television personalities of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Antoni Bassas was hosting one of the iconic game shows from the first time on the original TV3 channel, which came from Torreblanca, and greeted the audience with a drawn-out "Is anyone there?"

A son of Sants and trained at the neighborhood's Orfeó, Queral had worked on stages such as El Molino, Arnau, and El Grec, in text and cabaret shows, which is why he was so keen to create the character. Vicenteta had a life beyond television with a tour of the Catalan Countries and helped normalize Catalan on stages and at popular festivals. The program Three peaks and a chirp, directed by Joaquim Maria Puyal, was filled with popular culture references. Queral explained that Puyal had asked him for characters from all the Catalan dialects, and he suggested creating this Valencian singer who goes to Barcelona to seek her fortune, inspired by the speech of her Valencian mother and grandparents. That character never left him and opened the doors to the media. La Marató de TV3 briefly brought Vicenteta back to the screen in 2011: Queralt took off her wig and tried to explain how she had undergone a liver transplant.

Aside from his work in the media, Queral has excelled as a trainer of performers. In 1977, he founded the Barcelona School of Actors, where he taught acting, improvisation, comedy, and cabaret. From now on, the school will bear his name. His latest directorial work was, in February, directing a microtheater piece. On the Instagram account where they announced the transfer, his colleagues state that he "always defended humor as an artistic discipline and a human need."