Hilda Saavedra Tuero

Lawyer by profession, but artist by nature. Radio announcer and actress, she began her career in 1946. A prominent figure in Cuban theater, film, radio and television, of which she is a founder.

During her 58 years of artistic life she has been an example of professionalism, dedication and commitment to her work, for which she has been awarded the National Television Prize for lifetime achievement, the distinction of Artist of Merit of Cuban Radio and Television, and the Distinction for National Culture.

Hilda made her radio debut in 1950 on the program "El suceso de hoy", where Joseíto Fernández sang La guantanamera. That same year she debuted on the nascent Cuban TV in the program Cabaret Regalías.

Her last television performance was in the telenovela Sol de batey (1985).

Until recently she worked at Radio Taíno, where she shared duties with Alden Knight on Hablando de Cuba and for 23 years she hosted the program Después que llegó Colón.

She was born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, located in the western region of Cuba. From childhood she moved with her family to Havana. She was married to Antonio Beltrons, a graphic designer for Cuban television.

Her artistic life began in radio, where she is remembered for the important leading roles she had in novels and cultural programs. She participated as an exclusive announcer for commercial products. In 1950, she joined television and worked in news programs as an actress and narrator of the story series Había una vez.

During the 58 years of artistic life she was an example of professionalism, dedication and commitment to work, with an extensive career as an announcer, in addition to teaching this specialty to different groups of students.

Since childhood she was passionate about reading and research, living in Marianao, where she completed her primary education. She entered the Institute of Secondary Education. Upon finishing this level of education, she chose the School of Law and the School of Philosophy and Letters. Pursuing two careers at the same time, of which she only completed Law.

In Radio
At the age of five she visited a cinema for the first time and was fascinated, and at that age, she thought:

"That is what I want to be... Later I remember spending my life looking at magazines of artists and listening to the radio".

"When I finished at the University I found that pursuing a career in Law at that time was very difficult. You had to get a recommendation to work in a law office and in a government office or be a teacher, but I didn't like teaching and the other possibilities were also remote".

After finishing her university studies she enrolled in the Municipal School of Dramatic Art, directed by Julio Martínez Aparicio, with teachers such as Marisabel Sáenz, Violeta Casal, Roberto Garriga, Francisco Morín, Ramón Valenzuela and Juan Chavás.

In 1947, upon the death of her father, she interrupted her studies, returning in 1949 and working in parallel at the radio stations CMZ, Radio COCO and CMQ on Monte y Prado. She also studied acting, with Alfonso Beltrán as her teacher.

In early 1950 she responded to an open call by the Crusellas Company to work in radio replacing Marta Casañas and Ernesto Galindo, after passing the acting tests, she was hired along with actor René Sánchez.

In the 1950s she debuted in the CMQ Circuit, located in the old Radiocentro, doing so in the program El suceso de hoy, singing La Guantanamera by Joseíto Fernández. In the performance she did it alongside Antonio Hernández and Marta Jiménez Oropesa in a daily event called La crónica roja, recorded in Studio 4 of Radiocentro.

In 1950 actor and director Miguel Llao told her she would replace Marta Casañas in the novel FAB, broadcast at 2:00 in the afternoon, being the highest-rated novel in Cuba at that time.

The character to play was a very evil woman who had a scar on her face, which made her fear playing it and her contract with the company was suspended. She worked in the program La flecha de cobre, with scripts by Miguel Ángel Daranas and directed by Oscar Luis López and later by Esmeralda Fernández, where she was the main female figure.

For 23 years she worked in the Radio Progreso program, Después que llegó Colón, of which she is a founder. She was also the lead actress in the dramatic troupe of Radio Liberación.

At Radio Taíno
In 1985 she alternated television work with radio work. On November 3 of that year, when Radio Taíno, Cuba's Tourism Radio Station, went on air, she was among the chosen cast. About what she did at Radio Taíno, she commented:

"They called me to work on the program Hablando de Cuba, it was shared with Alden Knight, who still maintains it. I have a great memory of that program, because I did it with great pleasure and enormous satisfaction. I had to leave it when I retired and the truth is that I felt it deeply because it was delightful, or it is, because it's still on the air".

"From that time I remember especially José Antonio Cepero Brito who was a colleague whom I loved very much. He helped me in my development in the work of announcing and hosting programs, what they now call presentation or hosting and he was an excellent colleague".

On Television

The day after being fired from the radio, television program writer Francisco Vergara proposed to her to work in the space Cabaret Regalías, the first program of television at that time, a varied program.

The owners of Regalías El Cuño had seen her act and thought she could pair with Enrique Alzugaray. She started with small performances, staying in the program for three years.

In addition, on television she participated in programs, El humo del recuerdo, - a dramatic program - Studio 15 and other programs of a festive nature. Her last performance on Cuban television was in the novel Sol de batey in 1985 directed by Roberto Garriga.

Among the main directors she worked with are noted, Miguel Llao, Enrique Iñigo, Celestino García Suárez, Julio Lot, Odilia Romero, Isabel Aida Rodríguez and Sol Pinelli

"In television there were many talented people. Among them, Jesús Cabrera; I had great admiration and respect for Roberto Garriga, he was a person who had such an exhausting way of directing, because you don't know what vitality he had".

She also felt admiration for Antonio Vázquez Gallo, Gaspar Arias and Erik Kaupp.

She was awarded the National Television Prize for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the distinction of Artist of Merit of Cuban Radio and Television and the Distinction for National Culture.

Victim of a heart attack, she died on March 23, 2011 in Havana.