Olga Chaviano(1925-2003)

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.