Ulises Toirac is a popular Cuban actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director of theater and television. He is the creator of characters from Cuban humor such as Juan Marchante (Chivichana), Matute and Yudmila, among many others.
Ulises Toirac Abelenda was born on June 29, 1963. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the José Antonio Echeverría Technological University of Havana (CUJAE) in 1986. However, his professional career has been in the cultural field.
Since pre-university, he began to act as an amateur artist. In 1981, he formed a theater group for which he wrote the humorous play Colón en el Onceno Festival. With this group, he also staged the first production of a theatrical work Un Brindis por el Zonzo, a theatrical adaptation of a story by Onelio Jorge Cardoso.
At CUJAE, Ulises joined the amateur theater scene. He first became part of an experimental group led by Augusto Cañozares, with which he participated in the play Ópera X. He then joined the Carlos Pous theater group.
After these experiences, Ulises, along with several friends, founded the First National University Humor Festival. He took this opportunity to invite Alejandro García Villalón (Virulo) to close the event with the National Entertainment Ensemble. This was a turning point in Toirac's life that led him to pursue acting, especially in comedy.
After completing his university degree, he founded the group Onondivepa with a group of friends. They staged the play Farewell to the Late Comrade Benito and participated in summer shows alongside well-established artistic groups and Cuban comedians, such as La Seña del Humor and the National Show Ensemble itself.
In 1988, Ulises joined the cast of the Programa de Ramón on Radio Ciudad de La Habana, where he acted, wrote scripts, and became acquainted with radio production. A year later, he began working on the youth magazine broadcast by Radio Progreso, called Juventud 2000. At this station, he also wrote, directed, and starred in the humor magazine Contalco.
His breakthrough in the television space was in Doble Filo, a program in which he played the character Pupi, a young and chatty barber. In 1993, he became part of the cast of Sabadazo, the television show that ultimately propelled him to fame.
In Sabadazo, a television program hosted by Carlos Otero, Ulises portrayed over fifteen characters, among which Matute and Yudmila stood out.
Despite being a time of success, Ulises has stated in several interviews that it was a contradictory period, as it also marked the beginning of an era of the trivialization of jokes and the simplification of how humor is created in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary momentum to delve into solo performances. He stood out for his ability to connect different themes, attitudes, and talents. The first solo show was Con Las Tiras del Pellejo (1995). It was followed by El Flaco (1996).
In 1999, he made his return to television with his own show, in which he invited young comedians from across the country to participate: What Are You Laughing At?
In 2002, he then began his most ambitious project, ¿Jura Decir La Verdad?. It was a television show that paid homage to La Tremenda Corte, an internationally acclaimed Cuban comedy program written by Castor Vispo and starring Leopoldo Fernández and Aníbal de Mar.
In Do you swear to tell the truth? Toirac played Chivichana, a descendant of Trespatines. The program had 5 seasons and remained on the air until 2009. Some scripts were adapted for the theater, achieving great success.
Ulises Toirac has performed on international stages. In 2011, he toured the United States. In Florida, he presented his solo show Cuentos, Canciones y otras IDEAteces at the Miami Dade County Auditorium.
Ulises Toirac is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Throughout his artistic career, he has received significant awards that confirm his popularity in Cuba and distinctions such as the Order for National Culture (2004).
Movies in which he has participated as an actor:
- Alice in Wonderland (1992)
- Tropical Dream (1993)
- Adorable Lies (1993)
- Pata Negra (1999)
- A King in Havana (2004)
- Chivichana The Movie (2005)
