María Conchita Alonso

María Concepción Alonso Bustillo (born June 29, 1957), better known as María Conchita Alonso, is an actress, singer, songwriter, former beauty queen, and Venezuelan philanthropist.

Throughout her career she has participated in multiple productions both in film and on television, having been nominated for the Independent Spirit Award as Best Leading Actress in 1996 for her role in Caught. As a singer has received several gold and platinum records, being nominated three times for the Grammy Awards.

María Conchita, was the first Latin American actress not born in the United States to star in a musical play on Broadway, Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Broadhurst Theater in 1995.

Early life

María Conchita Alonso was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on 29 of June 1957 to Ricardo Alonso, and Conchita Bustillo, from Spanish roots. Her family moved to Venezuela when she was five years old, in 1962, after the Cuban Revolution. She had her first experience in show business when she was crowned Miss Teenager World in 1971, and was Miss World/Venezuela in 1975 where she became sixth runner-up in the Miss World pageant won by Puerto Rico's Wilnelia Merced.

Career

Alonso's first gold album and number one song in the charts was Love Maniac in 1979, her name as a singer at that time was Ámbar, after that followed her second number 1 with "The Witch" and soon after "Dangerous Rhythm". In what is generally considered to be her best known song, she was asked by Giorgio Moroder to write the lyrics in Spanish and sing "Vamos a Bailar" which he had written to be part of the soundtrack for the film Scarface. The song instantly became a classic amongst Spanish speakers despite failing to garner any major attention outside of Cuba where it was recorded. As her two albums with Ámbar and her solo debut were recorded in English, it was her second album María Conchita from 1984 that made her a singing star in the Spanish-speaking market, receiving a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Latin Performance".

She made her Hollywood film debut in Moscow on the Hudson (1984) with Robin Williams, and also starred in movies like Touch and Go (1986) Extreme Prejudice (1987), The Running Man (1987), Colors (1988), Vampire's Kiss (1989), Predator 2 (1990) and The House of the Spirits (1993).

She was one of the few Latin-born actresses to star in a Broadway show in 1995, playing Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman. She later acted in romantic comedies like Chasing Papi (2003) and The Last Guy on Earth (2006).

Alonso was cast to play Lucía, the mother of Gabrielle Solis, on the ABC series Desperate Housewives. The episode was aired on February 19, 2006. She was in the Latin version Amas de Casa Desesperadas for Univision Network. She was a guest star in the live-action film of the comic book El Muerto and appeared in the film Material Girls (2006).

Alonso hosted VH1's ¡Viva Hollywood! on April 13, 2008 with Carlos Ponce. She portrayed Sam in the Werewolf horror film Wolf Moon, which was directed by Dana Mennie.

Alonso appeared in Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem, released in 2013. Her latest film, a fantasy short titled The Secret of Joy, features her alongside fellow Venezuelan actor Carlos Antonio León, Spanish actress Laura Bayonas and Brazilian actress Ana Carolina Da Fonseca in a story that aims to bring awareness about pediatric cancer.

Political views

Alonso has often spoken in support of LGBT rights and in appreciation to her LGBT fans, stating that "I was very much supported by the community when I first came out with my music". In a 2004 article, she compared herself to Cher in terms of her connection to LGBT culture.

Alonso was an outspoken critic of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, whom she described as a "dictator"-like "Hitler," and those who vote for and support him as "terrorists." She appeared on Sean Hannity's Hannity's America on May 6, 2007, Hannity & Colmes on June 1, 2007 and Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor on August 13, 2007 and March 11, 2009.

Alonso issued an "Open Letter to Sean Penn" online on March 29, 2010 regarding his support of Hugo Chávez. She used a point-by-point refrain of "WHY" in her letter questioning various issues occurring in Venezuela. In December 2011, she got into a heated exchange with Penn at a Los Angeles airport during which Penn called her a pig and she responded by calling Penn a communist (both played lovers in the 1988 movie Colors).

In the fall of 2008, Alonso endorsed the presidential campaign of Republican nominee John McCain, writing:

As a Latina and a new American citizen, I believe in this country and its people, and I believe that we need more than just "change." We need a leader who can bring about the right kind of change, and John McCain has the experience and judgment necessary to lead us in these uncertain times. I grew up in Cuba and Venezuela, and I am appalled that Barack Obama apparently wants to emulate the "spread the wealth" economic policies of those countries and negotiate with their leaders.

In an August 2012 Spreecast interview, Alonso stated her opposition to Obama's re-election, saying that if reelected he would take steps to make the United States become more like Venezuela under the Chávez government.

In January 2014, Alonso resigned from a San Francisco production of The Vagina Monologues after appearing in an advertisement for Republican candidate for Governor Tim Donnelly.

On September 17, 2014, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro asked Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres to pursue legal actions to revoke Alonso's Venezuelan citizenship. The reason was her public request on a radio interview for a military intervention against Venezuela: "In my opinion, (the US) must intervene, because the Cubans already invaded without firing a single bullet because they gave it (Venezuela) for free. So I would like that the US would invade using bullets to get all those communists out of Venezuela".

In mid-2016, Alonso stated that she supported neither Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump nor Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the U.S. election, viewing both of them as unacceptable. She ended up supporting Gary Johnson in the general election.

Discography

• Love Maniac (Polydor/PolyGram, 1979)
• The Witch (Polydor/Polygram, 1980)
• Dangerous Rhythm (PolyGram, 1982)
• Te Amo (Polydor/PolyGram, 1983)
• María Conchita (A&M/PolyGram, 1984)
• O Ella o Yo (A&M/PolyGram, 1985)
• Grandes Éxitos (PolyGram, 1986)
• Mírame (PolyGram, 1987)
• Hazme Sentir (PolyGram, 1990)
• En Vivo México (Capitol/EMI Mexico, 1991)
• Imagíname (Columbia/SME Mexico, 1992)
• Alejandra: Boleros (PolyGram, 1994)
• Hoy y Siempre (PolyGram, 1997)
• Grandes Éxitos (2004)
• Soy EP (Hypnotic, 2005)
• Greatest Hits (Universal Latino, 2008)
• Mienteme (Universal Latino, 2009)
• Amor De Madrugada (ARDC Music Division, 2016)

Singles