Orlando Manrufo Córdova

Orlando Manrufo Córdova was born in Havana. He trained as a maritime transport engineer and worked in that field for 16 years before turning full time to acting and comedy.

In 1988 he joined the Olga Alonso amateur theater group, where he shared the stage with Corina Mestre, Bárbaro Marín, Laura de la Uz and Jorge Perugorría. It was there, in an improvised dressing-room parody of the TV show Nuestros hijos, that Mariconchi was born: a sharp-tongued, mischievous old lady who became his signature.

At the suggestion of Osvaldo Doimeadiós, then head of Cuba's Centro Promotor del Humor, he took the character to the national Aquelarre comedy festival with the monologue Aventuras y desventuras de Mariconchi, which won the Aquelarre Prize. For years he hosted La esquina de Mariconchi every Thursday at Havana's Teatro America, one of the city's most popular comedy nights. He also appeared in the show Bailando en Cuba 2: la historia no contada and performed with the cast of Vivir del cuento.

He championed humor without aggression or insult and named Eloísa Álvarez Guedes, María de los Ángeles Santana and Natalia Herrera as his models. He died in Havana on November 4, 2026.