Felisa Jar González

Recognized Cuban actress of Television, Radio, Theater, and Cinema. In addition to her artistic training, she worked as a commercial model, announcer, acting professor, and theatrical producer. According to her professional trajectory, she deserved the National Television Prize for Lifetime Achievement, the distinction of Artist of Merit in Radio and Television, and the ACTUAR Prize for Lifetime Achievement, among other recognitions.

Daughter of Galicians, she was born and lived in Vedado, near what is now John Lennon Park, on the central G Avenue, until she was twelve years old when her father died and with the money he left, her mother bought a four-apartment building in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of the capital, where she moved with the family to live in one of them and rent the others. She never left that place again. She participated from a very young age in the activities of the Galician Artistic Society where she performed for entertainment.

She began taking classes with professor Joaquín Riera, who took them to perform their first performances on radio programs at COCO. She was then around 18 years old. She continued working at the Galician Artistic Society and began attending the ADAD group, at the Theater Patronage, where they put on a show once a month.

At the Galician Artistic Society, in 1945, she was selected for the chorus and in 1946 she enrolled in the Municipal School of Dramatic Art. She studied Commercial Secretarial Studies and earned a degree in Performing Arts at the Higher Institute of Art in acting.

She was fortunate to study at the newly inaugurated Municipal School of Dramatic Art, for a period of three years, where she graduated in the first class along with Vicente Revuelta, with whom she worked in the initial staging of that academy's group. Already graduated, she was evaluated as a professional at the Cuban Association of Theatrical Artists. Theater captivated her and for many years she did it quite a bit because she liked it, she did it even for free, she didn't charge a cent.

Violeta Casal, actress, was her professor of theater history at the Municipal School of Dramatic Art. She worked alongside another great actress, in her beginnings. Marisabel Sáenz, professor of diction. They performed the great repertoire of universal works at ADAD and likewise at the Theater Patronage. With the Patronage she plays the role of Estela in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and when Violeta goes to the Sierra Maestra as an announcer for Radio Rebelde, they repeat the work, and they give the leading role to Fela. With that work she wins the Thalia statuette as the best performance of the year.

Her first radio role was in the American work, "Our Town," directed by Rubén Vigón. She ventured into other amateur programs on CMQ Radio and Cadena Azul. In the 1970s, she devoted herself mainly to Radio, in the adventure "The Eagle," the children's program "The Pirulí Family" and the socially-oriented program "Us Women." She alternated the stories of: "Your Love Novel," "The Cuban Novel"; for her work in "When Blood Looks Like Fire," she received an acting award from UNEAC.

In 1948, she made her film debut in Luisa, in the film Cecilia Valdés. Later she works in When Women Command with Garrido and Piñero. With a Mexican producer she makes Tahimí or The Fisherman's Daughter.

In the 1960s she starred in television soap operas "The Perverse Angel" and "Sweet Mary," devoting herself to the programs "Horizons" and "Great Novels" (The Red and the Black), short stories, and plays.

In Theater, Thank You Doctor by Enrique Núñez Rodríguez, Wedding Anniversary, The Moon on the Telephone, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Other Brother, Cecilia Valdés (Lyric Theater), and in 1989 The Leap.

Fela recalled her encounters with distinguished acting professors:

"I remembered Medrano so much because one of the things he taught me to do well was the peasant woman. I succeeded with that peasant girl that Amado Trinidad liked so much and soon they hired me."

"I worked a lot for Crusellas and with him I moved to channel 4 of television.

I had a lot of work but I was very happy, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the radio and then live television until 10 or 11 at night."

All the photographs I have from my youth show the image of a sweet girl, although I am still sweet, and at first they would have me play young ladies, but one day José de San Antón, a tremendous actor, with whom I had worked a lot at ADAD and at the Theater Patronage, came up with the idea of giving me the role of a wicked woman."

On television she remembers with great affection Antonio Vázquez Gallo and Loly Buján. Among the works in which she worked she mentions. The Red and the Black and Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday of Love Palmolive, written by Delia Fiallo, for her unforgettable works.

HER MEMORIES AND ADMIRATION FOR RAQUEL REVUELTA AND GINA CABRERA.

"Raquel was the star alongside Manolo Coego in Romance of Every Thursday on channel 4. She was married to Eduardo Casado who that day came to see the rehearsal, and as he passed the placards he saw that they put Manolo Coego first and Eduardo complained to the director and Raquel, embarrassed, said to him – it's fine Eduardo, that's not important – and he answered her – well, it is important, how are they going to put anyone ahead of you –. Raquel wasn't involved in any of that, she went to work in flat shoes because she was very tall and so as not to clash with Manolo Coego. She was of great beauty which she didn't care about. A magnificent actress, it was a pleasure to work with her, because she had command of the text and the entire scene. I admired her greatly before working with her and when we worked together what happened to me was the same as with Ernesto Galindo when I worked with him on Cadena Azul. I consider that sharing with her was a gift that life gave me."

"As for Gina, what can I say, she was wonderful, me playing the bad guy, always trying to take her boyfriend from her, though I never succeeded. Very simple and very hardworking. For me she is the case of greatest dedication that I remember. She was the first in her class when she studied high school, she studied ballet, she even made a ballet studio in her house, she studied guitar, she devoted herself entirely and totally to her profession. She is the only actress I remember who formed an association, where she performed a work entirely in English. She speaks English, French, and graduated in the first course of workers in Art History. She was a first-rate actress in radio, theater, and television, with total command and a photographic memory and above all a magnificent colleague."

"To have been able to work your whole life doing what you love is a gift from God, to walk down a street and have someone greet you as if they have known you your whole life gives you the knowledge that you will never be alone, that means a lot to me."

Fela Jar died in Havana on December 7, 2021, at the age of 97.

Awards and distinctions

National Television Prize for Lifetime Achievement
Distinction of Artist of Merit in Radio and Television
ACTUAR Prize for Lifetime Achievement 2014