Charo
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María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza (born January 15, 1941; claimed birth year 1951), better known by the Latin American and Hollywood show business as Charo, is a singer, dancer, comedian, actress and classical guitar player who was born in Murcia, Spain.
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Biography
When Charo was young, she was discovered by famous musician Xavier Cugat, whom she later married on August 7, 1966; the couple were the first to have their nuptuals in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, although they later divorced in 1978.
In 1977, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
On August 11, 1978 she re-married, this time to her manager Kjell Rasten, in Lake Tahoe, California, United States. In the early 1980s, Charo had a son and decided to move to Hawaii, where she regularly performed at the Outrigger Hotel and waited on customers at her restaurant on the island of Kauai. Charo waited for her son to grow up before returning to Los Angeles to get back into show business full time.
She has been named "Best Flamenco Guitarist" in Guitar Player Magazine's reader's poll. She now has a regular touring show in addition to appearances in Las Vegas shows regularly. She also donates her talents to Jerry Lewis' annual MDA telethon. Her trademark phrase is Cuchi-Cuchi!.
Television career
Charo's first recurring television role was as a panelist on Hollywood Squares from 1972 to 1978. She holds the record for celebrity guest appearances in the 1970s-1980s television drama The Love Boat.
Most recently, Charo appeared on the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life among such other "has-beens" as Jordan Knight, Dave Coulier, and Brigitte Nielsen. In one episode of the show, which is set in southern California, the cast members headed to Harrah's Rincon Casino near San Diego where Charo performed for them and a paying audience.
Date of birth
Charo long maintained that her stated date of birth was incorrect due to a "clerical error". Official documents in Spain and the United States maintained she was born in 1941, but Charo argued she was actually younger. In 1977 she went to court, and was able to successfully convince the judge to rule that she was born in 1951. This would have made her 15 at the time of her marriage, and the legitimacy of this date is widely questioned.
Discography
- Cuchi-Cuchi (1977)
- Olé Olé (1978)
- "Mamacita, ¿dónde está Santa Claus?" ("Mommy, Where's Santa Claus?", 1978, single)
- Bailando con Charo (Dancing With Charo, 1981)
- Guitar Passion (1994)
- Blame It On The Macarena (1996)
- Gusto (Pleasure, 1997)
Her first four albums were made as a member of the Salsoul Orchestra.
Filmography
- Tiger By The Tail (1968, movie, playing Darlita)
- The Name Of The Game (television show, 1970)
- Elvis: That's The Way It Is (1970, docu-film, alongside Elvis Presley and husband Xavier Cugat)
- The Wacky World Of Jonathan Winters (1972)
- Hollywood Squares (game show, 1972 to 1978)
- Joys (1976, television special)
- The Donny And Marie Show (1976)
- The Charo Show (1976)
- Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1976 to 1977)
- The Mike Douglas Show (1976)
- Sonny And Cher Show (1976 to 1977)
- The Captain And Tennille Show (1976 to 1977)
- Chico And The Man (television series, 1977 to 1978)
- The Love Boat (television series, 1977 to 1985)
- The Brady Bunch Hour (1977)
- 3rd Annual Circus Of The Stars (1978)
- Airport '79 (1979, playing Margarita)
- The John Davidson Show (talk show, 1981)
- Fantasy Island (television series, 1983)
- The Jeffersons (playing herself, 1985)
- The Facts Of Life (playing herself, 1985)
- Hollywood Squares-The John Davidson Era (1987 to 1988)
- Moon Over Parador (movie, 1988, playing Madame Loop)
- Marblehead Manor (1988)
- Pee Wee Herman's Christmas Special (1988)
- Thumbelina (1994, voice)
- "Blame It On The Macarena" (song's video, 1996)
- The Naked Truth (playing herself, 1997)
- Sin City Spectacular (1998)
- The RuPaul Show (talk show, 1998)
- That '70s Show (playing herself, 2000)
- ¡Viva Vegas! (playing herself, 2001)
- Sprint PCS Commercial (2001)
- The Surreal Life--season three (reality) (2004)