María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza,[1][note 1] professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well as starring in several films.

Charo began playing classical (Spanish-style) guitar at the age of nine, training under the famed guitarist Andrés Segovia.

She is known for her uninhibited and exuberant manner, high energy levels, vague age, heavy Spanish accent, and catchphrase "cuchi-cuchi".

Her Spanish passport gives her name as María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza.

[3][note 1] Charo has claimed she was enrolled in a convent school until the age of 15, when a nun told her that she belonged in show business.

[9] In the most colorful version of her 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.

Her Spanish birth certificate and passport, as well as her American naturalization papers, give her birthdate as March 13, 1941.

[20][21][22] Later, when asserting her birthdate was 1951, she claimed her parents allowed her to falsify her age to appear older when marrying Cugat.

a half-hour comedy starring the uninhibited wife of Xavier Cugat" and commented, "This is probably the worst idea of the season.

One such article quoted the "Q score" of Performer Q, Steve Levitt's celebrity popularity rating service, to show that her popularity declined slightly even as her familiarity increased:Before she gained national fame on talk shows in 1975, bosomy Latina starlet Charo was 'recognized' by 57 percent of Levitt's national television sample and had a 'popularity quotient' of 9 percent.

That paradox makes some performers think twice when invitations to talk shows come in.She was named Best Flamenco Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine's readers' poll twice.

[38] Charo returned to the dance-music scene in June 2008 with the single "España Cañi", which was released through Universal Wave Records.

[39] On March 1, 2017, Charo was revealed a contestant for Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars, paired with professional dancer Keo Motsepe.

Charo publicly stated: In recent years, his health began to decline and he developed a rare and horrible skin disease called bullous pemphigoid.