Consuelo Vidal Regal

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A talented and experienced actress, radio host, and the most outstanding and popularly recognized television presenter of Cuban television, as well as of the most varied artistic shows such as music festivals, contests, and special galas, she dedicated herself mainly to work in various modalities within Cuban radio and television, where during more than 50 years of artistic career she performed memorable acts in dramatized works, such as the acclaimed Yerma, a television film that Amaury Pérez García directed in 1964, and which the actress starred in, alongside Sergio Corrieri and Edwin Fernández. This version of the original by Federico García Lorca was broadcast in the same year of its production in the Teatro ICR space, and today is considered by specialists as a museum-worthy artistic work, among many reasons for the notable performance of the then still young actress Consuelo Vidal.

Also in Teatro ICR —and in most cases directed by Roberto Garriga— she performed in Electra by E. O'Neill, Intimacy of a Star (a title used for both the cinematographic and television versions of the theatrical text The Big Knife, by Clifford Odets) and A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, among others. Later, already established as a great actress, she left an indelible memory in the Cuban television audience with other performances, such as the serial Julito the Fisherman.

The beauty of her face and her voice opened doors for her from a very young age in radio and television. In 1950 she was already participating in the popular daily radio program La tremenda corte. Her participations in television serials of the 50s and 60s are happily remembered, such as her Little Lala, in Tierra Brava by Dora Alonso (also broadcast on radio) and by the same author Between Mountain and Sky.

Her acting teachers were Agustín Campos, Luis Manuel Martínez Casado, and Enriqueta Sierra, as well as in hosting it was the great Germán Pinelli.

Also among her first theatrical works are her starring roles in The Smoke of Memory, a kind of television stories where among many other characters she played Madame Curie. In the 1950s she began to make outstanding and regular appearances on the small screen: such is the case of Modern Home, alongside Armando Soler, a space in which the popular "Cholito" of this notable actor was born. It is precisely here that she meets the then cameraman Amaury Pérez García —later one of the most brilliant TV directors— who shortly after becomes her husband and father of her four children.

From 1958 onwards, Consuelo Vidal multiplied her success as a host of a weekly comedy show on the small screen, when she had the opportunity to substitute for Mimí Cal in Behind the Facade, in which she had already been making her frequent and in this case initial young lady appearances. This comedy show established her and kept her maintained for many years at the highest level of popularity among Cubans, thanks to her notable work as an actress-host in the very popular weekly space.

Consuelito, as the Cuban people affectionately named her, also performed with unquestionable success and professional rigor in children's programs, such as Friend and His Little Friends, created and directed in 1962 by Edwin Drnández, or Aunt Tata Tells Stories, both broadcast on radio and television; in them she gave voice to various characters and sang the main musical themes intended for children. Also in this manifestation it is worth noting that her voice was used in numerous characters from cinematographic animated films, such as the popular "Matojo".

Consuelo Vidal also made daring special performances in television musicals (remember the unforgettable substitution of Farah María as part of the vocal quartet Los Meme, in one of the weekly musicals of television in the late 1960s), as well as she tested her successful interpretive qualities in some of the great cabaret shows in Havana and Varadero of that same era, such was the case of Consuelito in the Circus written especially for her by Carballido Rey and directed by Joaquín Riviera, which at the time was considered the greatest attraction of Havana's nightlife.

In 1965 Consuelo ventured for the first time into cinema as an actress, a medium in which she received important recognition in festivals and specialized publications, in addition to the applause given by the public, including that from other latitudes, who also could not resist the charisma, beauty, and craft of this actress who —with intelligence and restraint— cultivated and maintained the sense of "Cubanness" throughout her long and virtuous professional artistic career (See filmography).

Her venture into theater, as far as the stage is concerned, does not represent significant work, until 1986 when with great success from the public and critics she presents herself directed by Nelson Dorr in Another Trip Around the World, in the Havana Carl Marx theater.

Since 1959 and for many years, Consuelo Vidal was the official presenter —together with Manolo Ortega— of the mass political acts of the triumphant Cuban Revolution.

In the 1990s the public appearances of Consuelito became increasingly less frequent, as a consequence of health problems —persistent deficiencies in her skeletal system— without having stopped working sporadically in cinema, or summer television. Later, in the summer of 2003 she suffered acute cardiovascular disorders in her home —in the middle of some recordings (television program presentations)— from which she never recovered.

Her children are Amaury Pérez Vidal, singer-songwriter and founding member of the Nueva Trova Cubana; Aimeé Pérez, Consuelo Duval, television and theater actress.

She died at the age of 73, ending an artistic career of more than 50 years.

Just as she was in life, Consuelo Vidal will be remembered as a figure of the highest importance within our national culture.

-FILMOGRAPHY-
In 1970 she narrated the documentary Viva la República, Directed by Pastor Vega.
1965 The Robbery, Directed by Jorge Fraga
1984 A Little Consolation, Directed by Guillermo Centeno
1984 The Birds Taking Shots at the Gun, Directed by Rolando Díaz
1994 Queen and King, Directed by Julio García Espinosa
1998 Amanda's Prophecies, Directed by Pastor Vega

-CINEMA AWARDS-
1984-Best Female Performance at the II Biennial of Cinema in Bogotá, Colombia.
Work: The Birds Taking Shots at the Gun
1994-Best Female Performance at the Film Festival of Amiens, France.
Work: Queen and King
-Best Female Performance at the XXXV International Film Festival of Cartagena, Colombia.
-Coral Award for Best Lead Actress, from the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.