Charo, Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza Cugat Rasten, ancestry, genealogy, ethnicity, by Mary Cummins genealogist

Charo, Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza Cugat Rasten, birth date, birthday, real, mary cummins, los angeles, california, ancestry, ethnicity, genealogy, spain, parents, grandparents, sister, Xavier Cugat,Luis Martinez Oliva, Carmen Molina Baeza, Carmen Martinez Molina Lesher, Shel Rasten, Knell Rasten,  @OfficialCharo

 

Charo also known as María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza is a Spanish-American actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. Charo first came to the US in 1964 at the alleged age of 18 as a singer with Xavier Cugat. "In 1966, she married 65-year-old bandleader Xavier Cugat and became a citizen of the US. In the late 1960s and 1970s, she became an ubiquitous presence on American television, frequently appearing as a guest star on series such as Laugh-In, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She is known for her uninhibited and exuberant manner, vague age, heavy Spanish accent and the catchphrase "cuchi-cuchi." " 

Charo was most likely born March 1946 (or March 1941) at home at 32 Calle Tiro Alto, Molina de Segura, Murcia, Spain. She later changed her birth date to Jan 1951 in public immigration documents, see below. Her parents were Luis Martinez Oliva 1911-2001 and Carmen Molina Baeza 1911-2000 both born in Spain and died in Beverly Hills, California where Charo has a home. Her sibling is Carmen Martinez Molina Baeza Lesher. *No confidential or private information is shared in this blog. Everything is public and in the public interest as Charo is a public person. Exact birthdays of living people are not included even though they are publicly available.

Charo's paternal grandparents were Jose Martinez and Pilar Oliva and maternal were Angel Molina Laosa (De la Osa, De la Rosa?) and Rosario Baeza Franco. Charo's baptism "middle" names "Rosario" and "Pilar" came from her grandmothers. 

Charo, Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza Cugat Rasten, birth date, birthday, real, mary cummins, los angeles, california, ancestry, ethnicity, genealogy, spain, parents, grandparents, sister, Xavier Cugat,Luis Martinez Oliva, Carmen Molina Baeza, Carmen Martinez Molina Lesher, Shel Rasten, Knell Rasten,

Charo's docs stated she was baptized at the church of the district. That could/would have been Inglesia Santa Eulalia, Molina de Segura, Murcia, Spain, photo below.

This comes from interviews with Charo in newspapers.com.Charo stated she attended the "Sagrado Corazon" aka sacred heart "convent." I believe that could be Parroquia del Sagrado Corazon, Calle Juan de Austria, Caridad, 1, 30500 Molina de Segura, Murcia, Spain. She had private lessons in flamenco guitar allegedly at the convent/church/school. Another story is she took the lessons in Madrid around 1964. Charo stated her father was a poor writer, lawyer and her mother came from a wealthy family. Charo stated her father fled Spain to Casablanca, Morocco during the reign of Franco because he wrote books critical of the regime. He was allegedly on a list to be killed. Charo's grandmother paid for her and her sister's schooling at the convent. This could have just been a Catholic school. All churches have convents attached for the nuns to live. I went to a Catholic church school that had a convent for nuns and rectory for priests to live. I'm also Latino family from Mexico and before that Spain. I speak Spanish. I in fact went to Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills which Charo attended. 

Charo first married Spanish bandleader and musician Xavier Cugat 1900-1990 August 14, 1966 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She later married Kjell Florentin Raesten / Rasten 1940-2019 a native of Sweden August 11, 1978 in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada three or four months after divorcing Cugat. They had a son Shel Joseph Rasten 1981 in Los Angeles, California who grew up in Hawaii. 

September 12, 1977 Charo submitted papers to be naturalized. At that time she had her parents state that her real birth date was January 1951 and not March 13, 1941. They signed, notarized and filed public affidavits stating the same in Beverly Hills, California where they lived with Charo, see below. The judge approved of the change of birth date in the court. The real birth date is most likely 1946 based on publicly stated age when she first arrived in the US in 1964 (age 17 then 18). Charo later stated she was too young to work in Vegas at the late show so she lied about her age. Many feel the date is 1941 and she lied about being 17 in 1964. 

The two witnesses on her naturalization documents were Jack Eglash a Sahara Hotel orchestra leader and musician 1930-2006. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2006/feb/15/his-music-will-be-missed/ Charo is mentioned in his obituary. The other witness was Michael / Miguel Gemeno a restaurant manager, July 20, 1915-January 2004 born Spain died in Las Vegas, Nevada https://lasvegassun.com/news/2004/jan/07/obituaries-for-jan-7-2004/ . They also signed Charo's sister's documents. 

Per 1964 newspaper articles Cugat whom she called "Cugie" discovered her in Spain while performing "Day of the Iguana." He was trying to replace Abbe Allen his wife, soon to be ex wife, who left his show for her own show. Charo first had to learn Abbe's songs and sexy dance numbers. The sexy character was Cugat's idea for his show. He said she'd also done five movies kind of like a Spanish Bridget Bardot sexpot character. I know she did at least one movie in 1963 in Spain. Cugat said he changed her name to "Charo LaBru" which I see in newspapers. 

I also base her age on the birth date on older directories i.e. March 1946, age of her parents (Mother born 1911 makes her 30, 35 or 40 when Charo was born), age of sister (probably born 1937 or 1948) and the fact that she performed in Madrid in plays in 1961 and 1964 and was in a movie in 1963. In the 1963 movie she is clearly an adult and not 12 years old. The difference between 1946/1941 and 1951 is five to ten years. No one cares. Back in the day women were pressured to always be 29 years old. She looks fantastic and is in great physical shape. Charo's sister Carmen changed her birth from October 4, 1937 to September 1948 at the same time, same place with similar affidavits. Carmen is named after the mother so she is the first born. Oddly enough Carmen has changed her birth date to 1955 in some directories more recently most likely because her husband was born in 1954. 

Charo naturalization affidavit from mother Carmen Molina Baeza

Charo naturalization affidavit from father Luis Martinez Oliva

Charo naturalization affidavit from Charo

She still performs. Catch her at her next show. 

Follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/officialcharo/  @OfficialCharo

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CharoOfficialPage/
Twitter https://twitter.com/CharoCuchiCuchi 

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxAI7Hb6FSfRoI1TnLZPk6A

References

Charo on Wikipedia

Various newspaper articles via http://www.newspapers.com 

Public records via http://www.ancestry.com, US public records, naturalization records, public documents, real estate deeds, directories. 

All images are copyright free from Wikipedia and also used via the Fair Use of Copyright Act. 

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