Ulises Toirac is a popular Cuban actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director of theater and television. He is the creator of characters from local humor such as Juan Marchante (Chivichana), Matute and Yudmila, among many others.
Ulises Toirac Abelenda was born on June 29, 1963. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the "José Antonio Echeverría" Technological University of Havana (CUJAE) in 1986. However, his professional career has been in the cultural sector.
Since pre-university, he began to perform 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 performance 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. Later, he 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 Show Ensemble. This was a turning point in Toirac's life, leading him to commit to acting, and especially to humor.
After completing his university degree, he founded the group Onondivepa with a group of friends. They staged the play Farewell of Mourning for Comrade Benito and participated in summer shows alongside 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 familiar 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 humorous magazine Contalco.
His breakthrough in the television space was on Doble Filo, a program where he portrayed the character Pupi, a young and talkative barber. In 1993, he joined the cast of Sabadazo, the television show that ultimately catapulted him to fame.
In Sabadazo, a television program hosted by Carlos Otero, Ulises portrayed more than 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 humor in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary push to dive into solo performances. He stood out for his ability to connect different themes, attitudes, and talents. The first solo performance 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 program in which he invited young comedians from all over the country to participate: What are you laughing at?
In 2002, he began his largest project, Does He Swear to Tell the Truth?. It was a television show that paid tribute to La Tremenda Corte, an internationally renowned 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 show 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 affirm his popularity in Cuba, along with distinctions such as the Order for National Culture (2004).
Movies in which he has participated as an actor:
- Alicia in Wonderland (1992)
- Tropical Dream (1993)
- Charming Lies (1993)
- Pata Negra (1999)
- A King in Havana (2004)
- Chivichana The Movie (2005)
