Charo

María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza (born March 13, 1941), professionally known by her mononymous stage name Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. She is best known for her flamboyant stage presence, her provocative outfits, and her trademark phrase, "cuchi-cuchi".

Date of birth

Charo's year of birth has been the subject of dispute for many years. Official documents in Charo's birthplace of Murcia, her original Spanish passport, and her naturalization papers state that her birth date is March 13, 1941. After emigrating to the United States, Charo claimed that she was born in 1947, then changed it to 1949. She asserted in a 1977 court hearing that her passport and naturalization papers were wrong and that her true birth date was January 15, 1951. Charo's current IMDb entry indicates a birth date of March 13, 1941.

The performer has said in interviews that her parents allowed her to falsify her age to appear older when marrying 66-year-old band leader Xavier Cugat in 1966. Numerous articles and interviews published shortly before and at the time of her wedding placed her birth year between 1945 and 1946. In 1964, Charo was referred to as Cugat's "18-year-old protegée". An April 1966 column on the wedding plans stated she was 20 and Cugat was 60. Many sources identified her as 21 on the day of her wedding.

Charo Municipality

Charo is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The municipality has an area of 322.50 square kilometres (0.29% of the surface of the state) and is bordered to the north by Tarímbaro and Álvaro Obregón, to the east by Indaparapeo, to the south by Tzitzío, and to the west and southwest by Morelia. The municipality had a population of 19,417 inhabitants according to the 2005 census. Its municipal seat is the city of the same name.

The economy of the municipality is mostly based on ranching and agriculture, with maize, carrots and beans the main crops.

In pre-Hispanic times the area was inhabited by the Matlaltzingas, who were allies of the Purépecha, the dominant force in the region at the time.

References

Coordinates: 19°45′N 101°03′W / 19.750°N 101.050°W / 19.750; -101.050