Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza (born March 15, 1941), better known by the Latin American and Hollywood show business as Charo, is a singer, dancer, comedian, actress and classical guitar player who was born in Murcia, Spain.

When Charo was young, she was discovered by famous musician Xavier Cugat. They quickly fell in love, and then they got married. But love ran out for the couple and they divorced. Later, she re-married and moved to Hawaii, where she performed at the Outrigger Hotel. Charo waited for her son to grow up to return to Los Angeles to try to re-take her movie career and she participates on Las Vegas shows regularly. She also donates her talents to Jerry Lewis' annual MDA telethon. Her trademark phrase is Cuchi-Cuchi!.

Charo is the celebrity who holds the record for the most appearances in the 1970s television drama The Love Boat and she has been named Guitar Magazine s "Best Guitarist In The World" at some point during her career. Presently, Charo appears on the VH1 reality show The Surreal Life among such other "has-beens" as Jordan Knight, Dave Coulier, and Brigitte Nielsen. In one episode of the show, which is set in southern California, the cast members headed to Las Vegas where Charo performed for them and a paying audience.

Charro long maintained that her stated date of birth was incorrect due to a "clerical error." Official documents in Spain and the United States maintained she was born in 1941, but Charro argued she was actually younger. In 1977 she went to court, and was able to successfully convince the judge to rule that she was born in 1951. This would have made her 15 at the time of her marriage, and the legitimacy of this date is widely questioned.

Discography

• Cuchi-Cuchi (1977)
• Ole Ole (1978)
• "Mamacita, Donde Esta Santa Claus?" ("Mommy, Where's Santa Claus?", 1978, single)
• Bailando Con Charo (Dancing With Charo, 1981)
• Guitar Passion (1994)
• Blame It On The Macarena (1996)
• Gusto (Pleasure, 1997)

Her first four albums were made as a member of the Salsoul Orchestra .

Filmography

• Tiger By The Tail (1968, movie, playing Darlita)
• The Name Of The Game (television show, 1970)
• (1970, docu-film, alongside Elvis Presley and husband Xavier Cougat)
• The Wacky World Of Jonathan Winters (1972)
• Hollywood Squares (game show, 1972 to 1978)
• Joys (1976, television special)
• The Donny And Marie Show (1976)
• The Charo Show (1976)
• Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1976 to 1977)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1976)
• Sonny And Cher Show (1976 to 1977)
• The Captain And Tennille Show (1976 to 1977)
• Chico And The Man (television series, 1977 to 1978)
• The Love Boat (television series, 1977 to 1985)
• The Brady Bunch Hour (1977)
• 3rd Annual Circus Of The Stars (1978)
• Airport '79 (1979, playing Margarita)
• The John Davidson Show (talk show, 1981)
• Fantasy Island (television series, 1983)
• The Jeffersons (playing herself, 1985)
• The Facts Of Life (playing herself, 1985)
• Hollywood Squares-The John Davidson Era (1987 to 1988)
• Moon Over Parador (movie, 1988, playing Madame Loop)
• Marblehead Manor (1988)
• Pee Wee Herman's Christmas Special (1988)
• Thumbelina (1994, voice)
• "Blame It On The Macarena " (song's video, 1996)
• The Naked Truth (playing herself, 1997)
• Sin City Spectacular (1998)
• The RuPaul Show (talk show, 1998)
• That '70s Show (playing herself, 2000)
• ¡Viva Vegas! (playing herself, 2001)
• Sprint PCS Commercial (2001)
• The Surreal Life--season three (reality) (2004)