Charo

[21]

I don't understand.

Why is this woman on my TV every five minutes, doing this Geico commercial??  Ozzie Guillen in a red dress!  Does anyone under 30 even know who Charo is? She has to be at least 70, right?

What kind of person was sitting there writing Geico commercials, and suddenly leapt up screaming, 'CHARO! WE MUST GET CHARO!!'  Why not Ruth Buzzi?

 

[The Big Ragu]

It's a good question. What was Charo ever famous for? The only thing I remember about her were the guest appearances on the Love Boat. (I was the youngest growing up in a house full of women. I never got the remote.)

Edit: I just thought about this. I don't think we had a remote. You had to get up and change the channel by hand.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I think the answer is fairly obvious 21.

They're behind that guitar.

She's in her 60s. She had her birthdate legally changed, so that she would have married her first husband at something like 8 or 9 and given birth to a son at 11 or 12.

She defines camp. Talented? No.

But she doesn't take herself too seriously.

And while there's no doubt she's had some, uh, work done, she's kept herself in great shape.

Still, Raquel Welch is the queen of the 60-plus crowd.

 

[Huggy]

Coochie, coochie, coo!!!!!!!!!!

Where's Jo-Anne Worley these days?

 

[21]

I think the answer is fairly obvious 21.

They're behind that guitar.

She's in her 60s. She had her birthdate legally changed, so that she would have married her first husband at something like 8 or 9 and given birth to a son at 11 or 12.

She defines camp. Talented? No.

But she doesn't take herself too seriously.

And while there's no doubt she's had some, uh, work done, she's kept herself in great shape.

Still, Raquel Welch is the queen of the 60-plus crowd.

Okay, don't take this the wrong way...but does it concern you that you know so much about Charo?

Do you think that's her real hair?

 

[alleyallen]

I definitely think the cavemen should be ditched and all GEICO commercials should be required to feature ex Love Boat and Fantasy Island guest stars.

 

[The Big Ragu]

You do know that there are at least a dozen guys here, who would hit it, right?

Other interesting facts I just found about her: 1) She is fluent in Japanese. 2) She was the winner of 'Guitar magazine''s Readers Poll as Best Flamenco Guitarist two years in a row.

 

[huntsie]

She was the Paris Hilton of her generation. Famous for absolutely nothing. She was a regular on Hollywood Squares.

 

[21]

Coochie, coochie, coo!!!!!!!!!!

Where's Jo-Anne Worley these days?

Just sayin.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I hear ya, 21.

Hey I think she's got "assets," even if, well, that's where the plastic surgeon came in.

I say if she can carve out a little niche, doin' that 'coochie, coochie' thing and a commercial here and there, more power to her.

And like Daddy said, the cavemen commercial has run its course.

Go for it Charo.

 

[21]

It's good that she didn't let herself go after Cugat died.

He did die, didn't he?

 

[Armchair_QB]

It's good that she didn't let herself go after Cugat died.

He did die, didn't he?

I think he's sharing a cryogenic dunk tank with Walt Disney and Ted Williams' severed head.

 

[21]

It's good that she didn't let herself go after Cugat died.

He did die, didn't he?

I think he's sharing a cryogenic dunk tank with Walt Disney and Ted Williams' severed head.

Or maybe she had him stuffed...moves him around the condo depending on the weather.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I definitely think the cavemen should be ditched and all GEICO commercials should be required to feature ex Love Boat and Fantasy Island guest stars.

I've posted about this before. But Fantasy Island traumatized my childhood. My mom and my sisters would always get their way and we'd watch Love Boat at 8 on Saturday. I can't remember what was on opposite Love Boat, but I remember that I always wanted to watch it. I never got my way (story of my life). So we'd watch Love Boat and then then they'd clear out and I'd be left with the TV for myself. Fantasy Island would come on immediately after. And that show scared the snot out of me. There'd always be the guy whose fantasy it was to be reunited with his long lost love. Those were OK. But then there'd be the woman walking off the plane, whose fantasy was going to get screwed up by a guy with an axe who wanted to kill her or a freaky-looking voodoo priest or something like that. Mr. Roark would always signal that her's was going to be the fantasy that made me **** my pants by saying something to Tattoo like, "What she doesn't realize is..." They might even cue the ominous music right away so there was no doubt. I'd have nightmares because of that show. Hell, I still have nightmares with Herve Villechaize in them.

 

[Armchair_QB]

It's good that she didn't let herself go after Cugat died.

He did die, didn't he?

I think he's sharing a cryogenic dunk tank with Walt Disney and Ted Williams' severed head.

Or maybe she had him stuffed...moves him around the condo depending on the weather.

Kinda like having a timer that turns on different lights in the house when you're out of town.

 

[Huggy]

It's good that she didn't let herself go after Cugat died.

He did die, didn't he?

I think he's sharing a cryogenic dunk tank with Walt Disney and Ted Williams' severed head.

Or maybe she had him stuffed...moves him around the condo depending on the weather.

Kinda like having a timer that turns on different lights in the house when you're out of town.

Or a real-life Weekend At Bernie's.

 

[Bob Cook]

You do know that there are at least a dozen guys here, who would hit it, right?

Other interesting facts I just found about her: 1) She is fluent in Japanese. 2) She was the winner of 'Guitar magazine''s Readers Poll as Best Flamenco Guitarist two years in a row.

I'm glad you took the advice of the Geico caveman to do a little research.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I definitely think the cavemen should be ditched and all GEICO commercials should be required to feature ex Love Boat and Fantasy Island guest stars.

Hell, I still have nightmares with Herve Villechaize in them.

To quote Cheech Marin, Ragu, "That's some heavy ****, man."

 

[jgmacg]

She was the Paris Hilton of her generation. Famous for absolutely nothing. She was a regular on Hollywood Squares.

All due respect, Huntsie, but that's not at all true.

As has been pointed out, she was an accomplished guitarist, dancer and singer. In the Sixties, she was married to a very popular Latin band leader named Xavier Cugat; and while Cugat was much older, a holdover from the Big Band era, they were both staple acts on the television variety shows of that age. In addition to being a bombshell, she was also a competent comic and storyteller and made scores of appearances on the Tonight Show.

By the time you encounter her, let's say in the days of Love Boat, she's become a caricature of herself, knowingly ironic before the Age of Irony arrives. Then a caricature of a caricature on Hollywood Squares, circa the late 80's.

That she's made a living in show business for nearly half a century is worth noting.

Only Paris Hilton is Paris Hilton, famous for nothing in an age when fame itself means nothing.

 

[Duane Postum]

She was the Paris Hilton of her generation. Famous for absolutely nothing. She was a regular on Hollywood Squares.

All due respect, Huntsie, but that's not at all true.

As has been pointed out, she was an accomplished guitarist, dancer and singer. In the Sixties, she was married to a very popular Latin band leader named Xavier Cugat; and while Cugat was much older, a holdover from the Big Band era, they were both staple acts on the television variety shows of that age. In addition to being a bombshell, she was also a competent comic and storyteller and made scores of appearances on the Tonight Show.

By the time you encounter her, let's say in the days of Love Boat, she's become a caricature of herself, knowingly ironic before the Age of Irony arrives. Then a caricature of a caricature on Hollywood Squares, circa the late 80's.

That she's made a living in show business for nearly half a century is worth noting.

Only Paris Hilton is Paris Hilton, famous for nothing in an age when fame itself means nothing.

Thank you. Charo was funny, energetic and far from a talentless nobody.