Charo: From 'Love Boat' to Pride Parade Float

[Zoneboy]

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If ever a performer was associated with a phrase, it's Charo and "cuchi cuchi."

For more than three decades, the Spanish-born musician, dancer, comedian and actress has regaled audiences with a sexpot persona laced with energy and wit. But not everyone knows that at age 9, Charo, born María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza in Murcia, Spain, studied under Andrés Segovia, widely considered to be the world's foremost classical guitarist of the 20th century. She appeared on a Spanish children's TV show when she was a teenager, where she came to the attention of big band leader Xavier Cugat, whom she later married (they divorced in 1978). They traveled to Las Vegas, performing in casinos such as Caesars Palace, the Tropicana and the Flamingo. Her American career thus launched, she started a solo act and appeared onstage, in film and on TV shows including "The Love Boat," where she holds the record for guest appearances at 21.

Her trademarked "cuchi cuchi," incidentally, comes from her nickname for her childhood dog, Cuchillo, who wiggled when he was happy and whom she imitated as a little girl, saying, "como Cuchi, como Cuchi."

One of the drawbacks to coming of age in the 1960s and '70s was that the sexism she faced in the entertainment business. Her talent as a musician was overshadowed by producers who wanted her to giggle and jiggle.

Since then, she has twice been named best flamenco guitarist in the world by Guitar Player magazine. Her flamenco-inspired CD "Guitar Passion" went platinum, and she won the female pop album of the year award at the 1995 Billboard International Latin Music Conference. In 2001, she opened a variety show in Las Vegas called "Bravo" that was hailed by critics during its two-year run. Her latest effort is a new album with a dance-mix tune hitting the airwaves called "Espana Cani."

Even better for Bay Area residents, she's a grand marshal of today's 38th annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade - and will be followed by a float with contestants from a Charo look-alike contest held at Trannyshack in 2005. She also performs tonight at the Herbst Theatre in "The Return of Charo and her Las Vegas Show."

She talked on the phone recently with The Chronicle from Los Angeles, where she has a home with her Swedish-born husband and manager, Kjell Rasten, and their 26-year-old son. (They also have a home and a restaurant on Kauai, called Charo's.)

Q: What did you think when you were asked to be grand marshal of the parade?

A: For years since I came to America, I've always been involved in human rights. America, which is a great country, needs to grow up. Discrimination is supposed to be erased from the vocabulary. I don't believe in discrimination, in how people categorize you for being Latin, fat, black or Jewish. I hate it.

If I have an opportunity to send a message to everybody, the two things we have to learn in this beautiful country are: We need more education for children so we can trade and compete with Europe, and then - no discrimination - respect everyone as an individual.


Q: How does it feel to be a gay icon and to have gay men dressing up like you?

A: I love it. My greatest friends are gay. It's art; it's about having an open mind. In this world, you can cry or you can laugh. I go for laughs. Gays are about enjoying life. Instead of crying, they laugh. They have an extremely huge imagination when it comes to art.

Q: You've had a long career. What's been the most rewarding to you?

A: The most rewarding: making money to pay bills. I worked so hard from age 9 to 16, as a student of Segovia. It was a great honor to study under this great guitarist. I was so proud of that. And then I came to America and I said "cuchi cuchi," and they don't let me play guitar for a while. I wanted to introduce who I was, a musician trained by the greatest - and it did not register. Producers, they didn't want to hear that, because the TV ratings came from the wildness, the "cuchi cuchi," the costumes. That's good; that's why "Dancing With the Stars" is so popular: It's the glamour. But when you're trained as a musician and they limit what you can do. ... Now, I'm gaining territory like a politician gains Iowa and New Hampshire.

In 1995, I made my first move: I recorded "Guitar Passion" - six songs with singing, six with guitar performing. Billboard magazine gave me the award of best female album of the year. Now, it's no singing, just Charo and guitar. I've worked very hard and have offers to perform in 2009 with different symphonies. This is the time I've been fighting for and hoping for, for years.

Q: Who do you think are some of the sexier female celebrities today?

A: Me! OK, there's one I stay away from - the one from South Africa, Charlize Theron. That bitch looks great. Every time I go to a red carpet, I keep my distance. Another one who's really beautiful is Catherine Zeta-Jones. Natural, natural. You see she didn't go under the knife. Angelina Jolie - very, very beautiful. And Nicole Kidman, too. The rest are under the knife and look alike.

Q: You're 67, correct? What advice do you give to women who want to maintain their sex appeal? A: No, no, no. I wasn't born in 1941. This is one of the birthdays. I have three. Xavier changed my age when I came here so I could perform in casinos with gambling. His brother, Enrique, forgot my age and gave me another age. I'm younger than they said. I'm having fun with the confusion, with people watching me onstage, and the disbelief when they say, "S-, how can she move like that?" I stay away from plastic surgery.

I prefer two or three wrinkles than to wake up from plastic surgery and looking different. It's scary - you look to the mirror and say, "Who the hell are you?" But I'm gonna be honest: If your tits are hanging down to the floor, you need plastic surgery. I take care of myself. I don't smoke. I love good wine, always with food. I don't see anyone normal having dinner and drinking milk. I run, I dance, I'm a choreographer. Also I have good DNA. If you do have plastic surgery, don't go to the doctor of Joan Rivers. She's terrific, she's my friend, but I'm telling you ...