Manela Bustamante

Manela Bustamante, born Manuela Bustamante (Havana, Cuba, November 14, 1924 – San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 12, 2005)

Was a famous Cuban actress, who performed the character Cachucha in perhaps the most remembered Cuban comedy show of its era “Cachucha y Ramon” (1955-65 approx.). She later became a household name in Puerto Rico during the 70s as she became part of the cast in the show Los Garcia, a show considered by many to be among the best comedy shows in Puerto Rican TV history.

Cachucha y Ramon

Manela became a famous TV star in the mid 1950’s with her character of “Cachucha” in the TV comedy “Cachucha y Ramon” together with co-star, Idalberto Delgado as “Ramon”. The show (mostly live), originally produced by Francisco Vergara and sponsored by Uncle Ben’s rice grew in popularity from the mid 50’s to the mid 60’s, to such a point that a doll of the Cachucha character was made, something pretty new at the time. In a trip to N.Y. Manela appeared in a Garry Moore show, as his show was also sponsored by Uncle Ben’s rice.

After Cuba fell to communism in 1959, Francisco Vergara left Cuba immediately and tried to sell the idea of the show to other Latin American countries. It is know that a copy of the show, its same title, and characters was done in Venezuela at the same time the original show was still running in Cuba. This second copy attempts by Vergara failed; mainly because huge part of the original show’s success was attributed to the original actor’s own creation and interpretation of their characters, as well as their chemistry, which was something not emulated on the second versions. Idalberto’s natural acting and Manela’s ability to speak super fast (yet understandable) in times of tension, were abilities of their own.