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Cuban theater and television are in mourning: the actress and theater director Doris Gutiérrez, a respected figure in the performing arts in Cuba, passed away this Wednesday in Havana at the age of 80 due to cancer.
Sources close to the artist's family confirmed her death to journalist Wilfredo Cancio Isla, who highlighted in a Facebook post the commendable career of Gutiérrez on Cuban stages and screens.
With a career spanning more than six decades, Gutiérrez left a profound mark on several generations of artists and audiences through his work on stage, his role as a director, and his memorable performances in television and film.
Gutiérrez was born in 1946 in the Jobabo sugar mill, in what is now Las Tunas Province, and during his adolescence, he participated in the National Literacy Campaign in 1961. A year later, he became part of the first group of 15 students in the inaugural Dramatic Arts course at the National School of Art (ENA) in Havana, where he began the training that would shape the course of his entire career.
For nearly three decades, he was a member of the cast of Teatro Estudio, one of the most iconic companies in the country. In 1994, he decided to shift his career towards stage directing and joined the Hubert de Blanck company.
As a director, she brought to the stage significant works such as Los soles truncos, María Estuardo, Electra or the Fall of the Masks, Happy Days and The Maids, the latter co-directed with Mónica Guffanti.
Although she was widely recognized in the theater scene, she gained significant popularity among the Cuban public for the characters she portrayed in television series, such as Yordanka in the dramatization Orden de ataque (1986) from the show Aventuras; and more recently, her masterful and memorable performance as the Frenchwoman Dominique Lafont in the soap opera Tan lejos y tan cerca, premiered by Cuban Television in 2022.
His career also included forays into cinema, in films such as Melaza (2012), directed by Carlos Lechuga, and Una noche con los Rolling Stones (2023), by Patricia Ramos.
In recognition of his extensive contribution to the performing arts, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) granted him the Omar Valdés Award in 2022, the highest distinction of the Association of Performing Artists, for his body of work and dedication to theater.
Upon hearing the news, several institutions and colleagues expressed their condolences. The platform CubaActores bid her farewell with an emotional message: "Cuban art bids farewell with profound sadness to a woman who dedicated her life to acting and directing, leaving an indelible mark on our culture."
"Thank you for so much, Doris. Your light will continue to shine through art," emphasized CubaActores.
The Archive of the Scenic Memory of Avilean Performing Arts also expressed its condolences to family, friends, and colleagues.
The death of Doris Gutiérrez adds to the significant losses suffered by Cuban culture in 2026. In the early months of the year, the actresses Adela Legrá, Cristina Rebull, Zelma Morales, and Concepción Ares also passed away, leaving a mourning landscape for the performing arts of the island.
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