Berrio, Lolita

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Berrio, Lolita

1910-1991

Lolita Berrio was a Cuban actress born on January 25, 1910, in Argentina. She was the daughter of Spanish actor José Berrio. Berrio and her family moved to Havana, Cuba, when she was very young, and she soon began to establish herself in theater circles. She worked for a multitude of theater companies such as the Principal of Comedy, Grenet (Teatro Regina, 1928), and Galarraga (Teatro Actualidades, 1929), among others. She also did a stint in writer, director, and businessman Eulogio Velasco’s company of zarzuelas and operettas, the genre of which flourished in Cuba between the late 1920s and early 1940s. In addition, Berrio frequently appeared on the radio and actively participated in the development of Cuban television from its foundation. In terms of theater roles, she is most remembered for the roles of Doña Rosa Sandoval and Charito Alarcón, both from the zarzuela interpretation of Cirilo Villaverde’s novel, “Cecilia Valdés.” Her most noted film roles are: Yo soy el heroe (1940); Yo soy el hombre (1952); and It Happened in Havana (1938). She was also celebrated for work as a choreographer in the early 1930s. In the 1960s, Berrio immigrated to the United States, settling in Miami, and appeared on television and for the arts and cultural promotor Sociedad Pro-Arte Grateli. Berrio died in Miami on March 30, 1991.

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Biographical note written July 2020 by Laura Bass, UGrow fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2019-2020, and updated by Amanda Moreno, September 2020.