Trivia

Cugat's father, a political prisoner, was pardoned just after Cugat's birth, and Cugat and his brothers were all exempted from military service.

As a teenage violin prodigy, under the name Francis Cugat, he toured in concert with Enrico Caruso.

In the mid-1960s, he gained notoriety and increased public exposure when he married his fifth, and final wife, a young Spanish entertainer known as Charo (aka "The Cuchi-Cuchi Girl") who was about 40 years his junior (her actual age is still a matter of speculation). Her extroverted personality and limited command of English made them popular guests on various television talk shows.

Spanish-born bandleader who popularized the rumba in America.

He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 1500 Vine Street and for Recording at 1601 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

His orchestra included Desi Arnaz, Lina Romay, Abbe Lane, Tito Rodriguez, Yma Sumac, Miguelito Valdés, Frank Berardi, Gene Lorello, George Lopez, Glenn E. Brown, Henry Greher, Isabello Marerro, James English, John Haluko, Joseph Gutierrez, Luis Castellanos, Manuel Paxtot, Oswaldo Oliveira, Otto Bolívar, Otto Garcia, Rafael Angelo, Richard Hoffman, Robert De Joseph, and Robert Jones.

In 1943 "Brazil" was Cugat's most successful chart hit. It spent seven weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine National Best Selling Retail Records chart behind Harry James's song "I've Heard That Song Before".

Never forgetting the hard times, Cugat would help new talent get their careers started, including Dinah Shore and Desi Arnaz, who both acknowledged their debt to "Cugie.".

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 218-219. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm.

Dinah Shore made her first recordings as a vocalist with Cugat in 1939 and 1940 for RCA Victor.

In the 1920s, he led a band that played often at the Cocoanut Grove, a club in Los Angeles. Cugat's friend, Charlie Chaplin, visited the club to dance the tango, so Cugat added tangos to the band's performances. Seeing how popular the dance was becoming, Cugat convinced the owner to hire South American dancers to give tango lessons. This, too, became popular, and Cugat made the dancers part of his orchestra. In 1928 he turned his act into the film Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos.

The zesty Cugat was a natural life of the party who considered himself more an entertainer and showman than a musician - and he made no apology for it. "I play music," he said, "make an atmosphere that people enjoy. It makes them happy. They smile. They dance. Feel good - who be sorry for that?".

Despite being criticized for their middle-of-the-road approach, Cugat remained committed to his commercial-minded sound. His band, which was led by Tito Puente following his retirement, continued to perform under the direction of dancer, musician, and vocalist Ada Cavallo.

Known for his musical genius and glitzy persona as the king of the posh nightclub scene with his signature tuxedo, ear-to-ear smile, pencil thin mustache, large South American hat and violin bow and chihuahua in hand, Cugat reigned over the party in film, radio and in live nightclub performances.

Cugat gained a reputation for being a very shrewd businessman and that talent took him very far: his Hollywood connections helped his orchestra climb to the top of the entertainment industry, appearing in thirteen MGM musicals, weekly radio broadcasts and a sixteen year engagement at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Bandleader Xavier Cugat was the "Rumba King," a prime mover of the Latin American rhythm craze of the 1930s and '40s.

His recipe for success was a splashy floor show that included the orchestra in colorful costumes, to excite the audience and demonstrate the latest Latin-American dances.

N New York City he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria before and after World War II.

He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur.

He was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Cugat appeared in recitals with Enrico Caruso, playing violin solos.

He was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba.

Cugat spent his last years in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, living in a suite at Hotel Ritz.

A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. I.

On 6 July 1915 he and his family arrived in New York City on the SS Havana.

Cugat was married five times. His first marriage was to Rita Montaner (1918-20), his second was to his band vocalist Carmen Castillo (1929-44), his third to actress Lorraine Allen (1947-52), his fourth to singer Abbe Lane (1952-64), and his fifth to Spanish guitarist and comic actress Charo (1966-78).

In 1931 Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra, shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years.

He studied classical violin and worked as a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theater to help pay for his education. He was first chair violinist for the Teatro Nacional Symphonic Orchestra.

Cugat owned and operated the Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat in West Hollywood. The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners' favorite songs upon request. The restaurant began operations in the 1940s and closed in 1986. The restaurant's exterior and a fanciful depiction of its interior can be found in scenes in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter in which Cugat has a substantial role playing himself.

His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old.

He worked for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. His caricatures were nationally syndicated. They appeared in Photoplay magazine beginning with the November 1927 issue, under the byline "de Bru." His older brother, Francis, was an artist of some note, having painted cover art for F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

The personal papers of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

Several songs that he recorded, including "Perfidia", were used in the Wong Kar-wai films Days of Being Wild and 2046.

In the 1950s he made several recordings with his wife, singer Abbe Lane.

In 1940 his recording of "Perfidia" became a hit.

Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha, and the twist when these dances were popular.

Cugat also performed violin concerts in Catalonia, Paris, Italy and Germany.

He may not have single-handedly introduced Latin-American music to this country, but he was one of the greatest promoters of the style and helped pave the way for the artists who followed him.

Cugat toured with a symphony orchestra, becoming one of the first solo musicians to play on radio and was a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 1920s.

Happy atmosphere set the scene for numerous films and Cugat's acting career, where he usually played himself, beginning with "Go West Young Man" (1936), starring Mae West, followed by "You Were Never Lovelier" (1942), starring Rita Hayworth.

Legend has it that Cugat was Rudolph Valentino's favorite player; Valentino insisted that Cugat be on all of his film sets to play romantic music to set the mood for his passionate love scenes.

Cugat used the success of his musical career as a springboard for a movie career that included appearances in such films as Bathing Beauty (1945), Weekend at the Waldorf (1945), Holiday in Mexico (1946), On an Island With You (1948), A Date With Judy (1948), Chicago Syndicate (1955), and Desire Diabolique (1959).

The Catalan mezzo-soprano Maria Gay introduced him to prestigious musicians such as Pau Casals or Enric Granados.

Cugat's big break came when he was booked into the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. His music was a hit there, and became a fixture in what became known as the "Cugat Room" of the Waldorf for nearly a decade.

Xavier Cugat was fluent in Catalan.