Marian Pabón Catala (born c. 1958 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

) is a Puerto Rican actress. She also had some success as a singer and recording artist.

Biography

Pabón grew used to life in the spotlight: her father,

Mario Pabón Mario Pabón, in full Mario Enrique Pabón Cantin (13 August 1930 – 27 November 1996) was a Dominican-Puerto Rican actor, director and show host. He was known for his work on Puerto Rican television and cinema. Early life Pabón was born in Q ...

(

San Pedro de Macorís San Pedro de Macorís is a city and municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic. The capital of its eponymous province in the east region of the country, it is among the ten largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The city has approx ...

, 1930–

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, 1996), was one of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

’s most famous actors and directors. She was named after him; her family used the name "Marian" as a Female version of "Mario". Her paternal family were wealthy landowners from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

that left the country in the 1940s during the dictatorship of

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until Rafael Trujillo#Assassination, ...

. Pabón was one of Puerto Rico's most prolific TV actresses when

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

s were produced there. She was active in these Spanish language soap operas until 1989, when the last great Puerto Rican telenovela was produced. Pabón also had a long theater career that has spanned over a decade, which started just as Puerto Rican telenovelas were phased out. A fan of musicals, she would also star in the occasional musical play as a singer and dancer (musicals are rarely produced in Puerto Rico, due to the market's relatively small size, which prevents expensive productions from lasting long enough to recoup production costs). She also became a comedic actress during that period, notably as part of

Sunshine Logroño Emmanuel Logroño (born November 1, 1951), better known as Sunshine Logroño, is an American actor. Logroño has worked in Puerto Rican media for close to five decades. Early years Born in New York to a Puerto Rican mother, Logroño moved to Sa ...

's television productions. Notable among her characters at the time was "Paola", the helper of an incompetent magician who, whenever his magic tricks failed miserably, would always demand that she, who normally wore a form-hugging dress, prance around the stage as to save the act by turning it into a

cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...

display. At the time, Pabón recorded a solo album. She had two minor hits that earned some airplay on Puerto Rican media: a cover version of

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

's "

Let's Twist Again "Let's Twist Again" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached No. 8 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' pop chart (No. 3 on ''Cash Box'') in August of that ...

, and ''"Se Enteró Tu Mujer"'' (''"Your Wife Now Knows"''). The song tells the melodramatic story of the clandestine lover of a cheating husband who has learned that her lover's wife has discovered their affair; she is actually relieved by the discovery. Her deadpanned ''"...¡Y me alegro!"'' (''"...and I'm happy for it!"'') is a

soundbite A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full-length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...

on various Puerto Rican radio programs, and has become an audience favorite, perhaps as a local example of

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

. From 1999 until 2006, Pabón starred alongside Rene Monclova, among others, in

's television comedy, ''

El Condominio ''El Condominio'' was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican television sitcom created, written and produced by Sunshine Logroño, Emmanuel "Sunshine" Logroño that aired on WAPA-TV, Televicentro Puerto Rico from March 2000 until June 2005. The show came ...

''. In this series she portrayed Brenda Q., a very assertive Niuyorican who has turned into a

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French la ...

after a stint pursuing prostitution as a career. Brenda is weary of her male neighbors, who only perceive her sex appeal and are inevitably drawn to her breasts, and constantly (and angrily) demands that they only stare to her eyes. She has a cousin, Cari, (played by actress Cristina Soler), a

nymphomaniac Hypersexuality is a proposed medical condition said to cause unwanted or excessive sexual arousal, causing people to engage in or think about sexual activity to a point of distress or impairment., according to the website of ''Psychology Toda ...

who has a relatively low

intelligence quotient An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. Originally, IQ was a score obtained by dividing a person's mental age score, obtained by administering ...

and bigger breasts than Brenda Q.'s, and whom she tries to coerce into doing sex acts for money with customers, which Cari would inevitably do rather willingly and not charge for, to Brenda's frustration. Controversy arose in 2004 over whether that show should be cancelled because Tony Mojena had been the show's original producer, Pabón stuck by Logroño, defending the show as a workhouse for her fellow Puerto Rican co-stars. Pabón is a full-time stage actress that has been involved in several of

's most important plays of the 1990s and 2000s, and has performed the plays on tour around Puerto Rico. With the possibility of ''El Condominio'' disappearing from Puerto Rican television, she also participates in a stage version of the hit TV show, which includes the same actors and characters of the television programs. Pabón has participated in numerous Puerto Rican films such as '' Desvío al Paraiso'' (''Wrong Way to Paradise'') and '' Casi Casi''. This film was written and directed by her nephews

Tony Vallés Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * M ...

and

Jaime Vallés Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...

. She co-starred in this movie with another one of her nephews, Mario Pabón II. She is one of the most noted musical theatre performers in Puerto Rico having starred as Lola in the San Juan production of ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., d ...

'' (opposite Roberto Vigoreaux as Joe Hardy), Audrey in ''

Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...

'', Sister Mary Leo in the San Juan premiere of ''Sor-Presas'' (''

Nunsense ''Nunsense'' (1985) is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret show that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical. The o ...

''), Roxie Hart in ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', and Liliane LaFleur in ''Nine''. She has also appeared in numerous

zarzuelas () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...

(Spanish operettas). She played Fraulein Kost in the 1995 San Juan production of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

'', taking over the lead role of

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Pre ...

when the show's star, Ivette Rodriguez, took time off due to illness. In 2006 she played Cassie in the Puerto Rican revival of ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...

''. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. In March 2024, Marian Pabón announced that she was no longer suffering from cancer.

Filmography

Cinema

* 1994: '' Desvío al Paraiso'': Police inspector * 1995: ''Manhattan Merengue!'': Margaret * 2006: '' Casi Casi'': Principal Richardson * 2010: ''Manuela y Manuel'': Faraona * 2013: ''

Broche de Oro ''Broche de Oro'' is a 2012 Puerto Rican comedy film directed by Raúl Marchand Sánchez, starring Jacobo Morales, Adrián García, Diego de la Texera and Luis Omar O'Farrill. The film became the highest-grossing Puerto Rican film of 2012 and of ...

'': Madre Superiora * 2016: ''Pepo Pal Senado'': Estela * 2016: ''The Vessel'': Rosita * 2017: ''Broche de Oro: Comienzos'': Madre Superiora

Programmes

* 1980: ''El ídolo'': Teresa * 1988: ''Cuqui: Una mujer como tú'': Norma

Theater

* ''

'': Lola * ''

'': Audrey * ''Sor-Presas'': Sister Mary Leo * ''

'': Roxie Hart * ''Nine'': Liliane LaFleur * ''

'': Fraulein Kost * 2006: ''

'': Cassie * 2008: ''Los hombres aman a las cabronas'': Bárbara

External links