Olga Chaviano(1925-2003)
- Actress
- Music Department
Beautiful exotic dancer and all-around-show-woman Olga Chaviano was
only 15 years old when she made her professional debut at Havana's
Teatro America dancing Tangos and Brazilian rhythms. After performing
in Venezuela as a member of the musical revue "Las Modelos de Conde,"
Olga returned to Cuba and was hired as a rumba dancer for a US film on
location in Havana. During the production she met Rene Barrera, a
Mexican dancer who became her dancing partner and husband. Olga and
Rene performed all over Central America working their way up north
until they reached Mexico City where they were a tremendous success at
the Teatro Tivoli. In Mexico she was asked to dance in several films
including El mago (1949) starring Mario Moreno "Cantinflas". Back in Cuba,
Miss Chaviano performed as a single at Teatro Marti and from there she
jumped into the most prestigious cabarets and night clubs becoming a
very popular entertainer in the golden era of Havana's night life. Her
most memorable performances took place at the famous "Sans Souci" and
"Tropicana" and she was courted by the richest and most influential men
of the time. She was also a success on television appearing almost
exclusively at CMQ-TV, Cuba's best and most popular TV network where
she even co-starred in a sitcom. Her career suffered when the Island
was taken over by the communists in 1959 and her glamorous image did
not sit well with the Fidel Castro dictatorship. She went into exile in
1966 in the US and managed to continue dancing in New York, Los
Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, etc. with her son, Faustino Rothman, who
died in 1997 at the age of 41. Shortly after that Ms. Chavino retired,
dedicating all her time to her family, daughter Maria Teresa Angel,
three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In May 2003, a brain
tumor was detected and she had to endure painful treatment. The
following October she was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami
Beach where she died of pneumonia surrounded by family and friends. She
was 78 years old.