Charo claims she was born on January 15, 1951, in the city of
Murcia,
Spain. In the most colorful version of her childhood, Charo's grandmother hired a music professor to give her weekly
classical guitar lessons, and he became the first man to enter the convent. In a 2005 interview, she reminisced: "The institution had great young teachers and students. Everything was a charity. Mr. Segovia, between concerts that's when he'd come, and if you'd been there a year and you weren't good, you'd go out and they would give your place to another young kid." Charo has stated in several interviews that she graduated with honors at age 16. They wed on August 7, 1966. An April 1966 column by
Earl Wilson on the couple's wedding plans announced: "Sixty-year-old Xavier Cugat and his 20-year-old Spanish girlfriend and singing star Charo hope to marry in
San Cugat, Spain, in a few days if Cugat can convince church authorities his two divorces should not be counted against him since he wasn't married in church."
Birth year controversy Charo's year of birth is the subject of
dispute. Her Spanish birth certificate and passport, as well as her American naturalization papers, give her birthdate as March 13, 1941. She later claimed she was born in 1947, then changed it to 1949. In 1977, she asserted in a court hearing that her passport and naturalization papers were incorrect and that her birthdate was January 15, 1951. Others referred to her as Cugat's "18-year-old protégée". An April 1966 column on the wedding plans stated that she was 20 and Cugat was 60. Many sources identified her as 21 on the day of her wedding. Later, when asserting her birthdate was 1951, she claimed her parents allowed her to falsify her age to appear older when marrying Cugat. However, that would have made her 15 at the time, contradicting her claim to have graduated from school at 16, not yet having begun her performing career. She has never clarified the discrepancy. In October 1977, the same year in which Charo filed for divorce from Cugat and became a naturalized American citizen, judge
Roger Foley in Las Vegas adjudicated the 1951 birth year to be official. Charo provided sworn
affidavits from her parents, although the claim has been viewed with skepticism. Commenting on the disputes over her age, she has said that the public's disbelief could prove advantageous: "But if people really believe I'm older, that's fine. Don't be surprised if I come out with my own cosmetics, a new energy bar, and maybe some vitamins." ==Career==