Maria del Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza, popularly known by her stage name Charo is a Spanish American actress, comedian, and flamenco guitarist. She is best recognized for her “Guitar Passion” which earned her the Female Pop Album of the Year award during the Billboard International Latin Music Conference. She is also known for her uninhibited and exuberant manner, vague age, ostensible lack of fluency in English, and heavy Spanish accent, and the catch-phrase "cuchi-cuchi". In an interview, Charo said, "Around the world, I am known as a great musician. But in America, I am known as the cuchi-cuchi girl. That’s okay because cuchi-cuchi has taken me all the way to the bank.". 

Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll named her Best Flamenco Guitarist twice. 

Charo Breaks Her Silence After Her Husband Committed Suicide at 79

Source:people.com

Charo is mourning the death of Kjell Rasten who stood by her side as her husband for 40 years. Tuesday morning, the Spanish-American singer and actress remembered her husband of nearly four decades with a special tribute. "Yesterday, Kjell, My husband of forty years and the love of my life killed himself.  There are no words to describe what we are feeling now.  He was an amazing man, a great husband and the best father I could imagine to our son," Charo shared in her message to fans. "He dedicated his life to loving and supporting his family." 

In the statement to Fox News, she told that Kjell developed a "rare and horrible skin disease" called Bullous Pemphigoid. He also became very depressed with too many medications to take. It was confirmed that Kjell passed away from suicide on Monday. Kjell had a much more private life compared to his wife. He also supported Charo throughout her career as he became her manager shortly after they got married earlier in 1978. 

Famous For

• Considered one of the successful entertainers in the entertainment industry. 

Early Life

Charo was born on 15 January 1951. Her birth name is Maria del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza. However, her date of birth has driven big controversy in years. Officials documents in her birthplace of Murcia, her Spanish passports and her naturalization papers state that she was born on 13 March 1941. However,  she stated after immigrating to the United States that she was born in 1947. She later changed her birthday to 1949. She asserted in a 1977 court hearing that her passport and naturalization papers were wrong and that her year of birth in 1951. Her ethnicity is Latin. Information regarding her parents is unavailable. Her birthplace is in Molina de Segura, Region of Murcia, Spain. Her nationality is Spanish-American. Her religion is Christian. Her birth star is Capricorn. Her father was reportedly a lawyer who fled to Casablanca during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, while her homemaker mother stayed behind in Murcia, raising their children. Talking about her siblings, she has a sister named Carmen Martinez Molina.

She claimed that she was enrolled in a convent as a young child until 15. A music professor became the first man to enter the convent after Charo's grandmother him to give her weekly classical guitar lessons. She studied classical and flamenco guitar in a school in Madrid. She was discovered as a young performer by Xavier Cugat. Xavier Cugat and she got married later in 1966. She moved to the United States with her mother and aunt and started performing with Cugat's orchestra. 

Career

Charo began her television career by debuting on NBC morning show, "The Today Show". 

She made her feature film debut in New Friendship in 1963. 

She performed on The Ed Sullivan Show four times with her husband, Xavier Cugat, and his orchestra from 1965 to 1967. 

She lacked fluency in the English language, which was played as a comic focus. Thus, she began using "cuchi-cuchi" in the public arena.

In her 1970s, she appeared eight times on The Love Boat, as well as on variety and talk shows such as Donny & Marie, Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Captain and Tennille, The John Davidson Show, The Mike Douglas Show, which she guest-hosted at least once, and the short-lived Brady Bunch variety spinoff.

She then returned to television in commercials for Sprint wireless phone service and GEICO insurance in the 2000s. 

She made a guest appearance on the Latin-themed VH1 reality show Viva Hollywood on 11th May 2008.

She was named Best Flamenco Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll twice.

She appeared as the Celebrity Showtime entertainer aboard Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas on its January 4 and January 13, 2008.

She performed Rihanna's song "Don't Stop the Music" at the 2009 Muscular Dystrophy Association Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. 

She made a guest appearance on Dancing with the Stars in April 2010 and Watch What Happens: Live on February 22, 2011.

She dropped twelve singles including “La Salsa”, “Sha Na Na”, “Hot Love”, “La Mojada”, and ”Sexy Sexy” from 1976 to 2013. 

She also portrayed a number of roles in several movies such as “The Big Mouth”, “Thumbelina”, “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming” form 1963 to 2017.

In 2016, she made her special appearance in the television series “Jane The Virgin” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. 

She was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars on 1st March 2017. 

She was paired with professional dancer Keo Motsepe. They became the second couple to get eliminated from the competition finishing the competition in 11th place.

Who did Charo marry?

Charo has been married twice in her life. She was first married to Xavier Cugat in August 1966. She was under 20 and her husband was 66 years old when they got married. However, she filed for divorce from Cugat after she became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1977. Their divorce was finalized in April 1978. She stated that her marriage with Cugat was a business contract to legally bring her to the United States.

The same year, her divorce got finalized, 1978, she married Kjell Rasten in August in South Lake Tahoe, California. The couple has a son, Shel Rasten, born in 1981. Her son, Shel is the drummer for the heavy metal band Treazen.

Who is Kjell Rasten? Bio of Charo husband Who died by suicide at 78

Body Measurements

Charo is a very beautiful woman with a tall height of 5 feet 4 in and balanced weight of 128 lbs. Her body measurement is 38-26-36 in. Her body shape is an hourglass. Her hair color is Blonde and eye color is Dark Brown. She wears a bra size of 34D, dress size of 10 US and shoe size of 7.5 US. She maintained her body a lot doing light workout, yoga and eating healthy food. She has gone through several cosmetic surgeries to improve her physical features, appearing juvenile like never before. Her ample breasts are boon of silicone which was used to make them look extra tempting. Her other body measurement will be updated soon.

How much is Charo worth?

The net worth of Charo is estimated to have $12 million, however, her annual salary hasn’t been disclosed yet. She has appeared in numerous television commercials as well. She has garnered immense popularity and fortunes through her unstoppable sail in the entertainment industry that too rolled up with impressive career breakthrough. Her major source of earning is from her singing career.