Chelo Alonso (born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández, 10 April 1933 – 20 February 2019) was a Cuban actress who became a star in

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film h ...

, and ultimately a 1960s

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage i ...

heroine and

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...

in the U.S. She was well known for playing

femmes fatales A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an arc ...

with fiery tempers and sensual dance scenes.

Biography

Alonso was born Isabel Apolonia García Hernández in Central Lugareño, Camagüey, Cuba, to a Cuban father and Mexican mother. She initially achieved recognition in Cuba for her dancing ability, becoming a sensation at Cuba's National Theatre in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. Soon after, she emerged as a new exotic dancing talent at the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

in Paris. She was billed as the "new

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

", who had also performed and become famous at the Folies. Alonso was billed as the "Cuban H-Bomb", and mixed

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ...

rhythms from her homeland with " bump and grind". Alonso was first noticed internationally in the 1959 film, '' Nel segno di Roma (Sheba and the Gladiator)'', which starred

Anita Ekberg Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...

and

Georges Marchal Georges Marchal (10 January 1920 – 28 November 1997) was a French actor. Born Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, the strikingly handsome Marchal was discovered in the early-1940s by director Jean Grémillon. By the earl ...

. Owing to a particularly erotic dance number, her picture and name became more prominent on the movie's publicity posters than either of the two leads, much to Ekberg's dismay. Most of Alonso's films were adventure movies in the style of '' Le fatiche di Ercole (Hercules)''. ''Hercules'' starred

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonis ...

and was a wildly popular new genre in film. It paved the way for movies attempting to emulate it. These films required exotic talent, and Alonso's dark beauty fit the bill; she even starred with Steve Reeves himself in ''

Goliath and the Barbarians ''Goliath and the Barbarians'' ( it, Il terrore dei barbari, lit=Terror of the Barbarians) is a 1959 Italian peplum film loosely based on events of the Lombard invasion of Italy in AD 568. As with many Italian peplums of the time, the Englis ...

'' (1959) and '' Morgan il pirata'' (1960). ''Goliath and the Barbarians'' earned Alonso the award of "Italian Cinema's Female Discovery". In 1960, while making ''Morgan il pirata'', Alonso met and married Aldo Pomilia, a production manager and producer. After making together ''Quattro notti con Alba'' (Desert War) in 1962, they had one son, Aldino Pomilia, and she retired for a while. During a visit to Aldo in Spain, where he was the production supervisor of ''

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

'' (1966), she made a brief uncredited mute cameo. Pomilia then executive-produced her an auspicious comeback, playing opposite her countryman, Havana-born

Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity an ...

in the cult western '' Corri uomo corri'' as Dolores, which is arguably the best film role of her career. Chelo then made a brief appearance in a variation of that previous role, also called Dolores, in another cult western, the bizarre ''La notte dei serpenti'' (Nest of Vipers) after which she abandoned the film scene and focused on Italian TV. After the death of her husband in 1986, Alonso moved to the city of

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy. She retired from film and started a cat-breeding business, as well as a four-star hotel. Chelo Alonso died on 20 February 2019, at the age of 85.

Filmography

References

External links

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Chelo Alonso on Java's Bachelor Pad

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Chelo 1933 births 2019 deaths People from Camagüey Cuban film actresses Cuban people of Mexican descent Cuban emigrants to Italy Spaghetti Western actresses 20th-century Cuban actresses