Charo

María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza Rasten (born March 13, 1951 in Murcia, Spain), better known as Charo, is a singer, dancer, comedian, actress and classical guitarist. She is known for her flamboyant stage presence and provocative outfits and her trademark phrase, "cuchi-cuchi."

Charo was born in Murcia, Spain. Official documents in Spain and the United States indicate she was born in 1941, but Charo insists she actually was born in 1951, a claim that has been upheld in court. Charo has said in past interviews that her parents consented for her to falsify her age to appear to be older after marrying 66-year-old band leader Xavier Cugat when she was 15.[1] Further complicating the question is the fact that contemporary press reports gave her age at marriage as 21,[2][3] an April 1966 column on the wedding plans stated she was 20 and Cugat was 60,[4] and columns less than two years before the marriage refer to her as "Coogie's 18-year-old protegée."[5] In October 1977,[6] — the same year in which Charo filed for divorce from Cugat and became an American citizen — a United States court upheld the 1951 birth year as official, with the performer providing a sworn statement from her parents in support of her claim.[7] Commenting on the disputes over her age, Charo has said that the public's disbelief could prove advantageous: "But if people really believe I'm older, that's fine. Don't be surprised if I come out with my own cosmetics, a new energy bar and maybe some vitamins."[1]

Charo is the daughter of a lawyer, who reportedly fled from Casablanca during Francisco Franco's dictatorship while her homemaker mother stayed behind in Murcia raising their children. She studied classical and flamenco guitar while residing in Murcia, and can claim Andrés Segovia as her guitar teacher (Segovia taught general music classes as community service in schools around Murcia). She took guitar lessons from him and other teachers from the age of nine on. As a result of her training and skill she has been named "Best Flamenco Guitarist" in Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll twice. One of Charo's regrets is that because of her flamboyant stage presence, she has been overlooked as a serious guitar player.