Charo

Charo
Charo at the 2013 Alma Awards
Born	María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza (1951-03-13) March 13, 1951 (age 65) Murcia, Region of Murcia, Spain
Occupation	Actress, singer, classical guitarist
Years active	1963–present
Spouse(s)	Xavier Cugat (1966–1978) Kjell Rasten (1978–present)
Children	1
Website	Official website

María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, (born March 13, 1951) professionally known by her mononymous stage name Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, comedian, and flamenco guitarist.

Charo's year of birth has been the subject of dispute for many years. Official documents in Charo's birthplace of Murcia, her original Spanish passport, and her naturalization papers state that her birth date is March 13, 1941. After immigrating to the United States, Charo claimed that she was born in 1947, then changed it to 1949. She asserted in a 1977 court hearing that her passport and naturalization papers were wrong and that her true year of birth was 1951.

The performer has said in interviews that her parents allowed her to falsify her age to appear older when marrying 66-year-old band leader Xavier Cugat in 1966. Numerous articles and interviews published shortly before and at the time of her wedding placed her birth year between 1945 and 1946. In 1964, Charo was referred to as Cugat's "18-year-old protegée". An April 1966 column on the wedding plans stated she was 20 and Cugat was 60. Many sources identified her as 21 on the day of her wedding.

In October 1977‍—‌the same year in which Charo filed for divorce from Cugat and became a naturalized American citizen‍—‌U.S. District Judge Roger Foley in Las Vegas upheld the 1951 birth year as official, with the performer providing sworn affidavits from her parents in support of her claim. Commenting on the disputes over her age, she has said that the public's disbelief could prove advantageous: "But if people really believe I'm older, that's fine. Don't be surprised if I come out with my own cosmetics, a new energy bar and maybe some vitamins."

Charo was born María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza in Murcia, Region of Murcia, Spain. 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. Charo has occasionally claimed that she was enrolled in a convent as a young child and remained there until she was 15, when a nun stated that she belonged in show business. In the most colorful version of this childhood, Charo's grandmother hired a music professor to give her weekly classical guitar lessons, and he became the first man to enter the convent.