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 field.
Since high school, he started acting as an amateur artist. In 1981, he formed a theater group for which he wrote the humorous play Colón at the Eleventh Festival. With this group, he also staged the first production of a theatrical work, A Toast to the Fool, a theatrical adaptation of a story by Onelio Jorge Cardoso.
At CUJAE, Ulises joined the amateur theater scene. He initially became part of an experimental group led by Augusto Cañozares, with which he participated in the play Ópera X. He later 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 that led him to pursue acting, especially comedy.
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 renowned Cuban artistic groups and comedians, such as La Seña del Humor and the National Ensemble of Shows itself.
In 1988, Ulises joined the cast of the Ramón Program 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 broadcasted by Radio Progreso, titled Youth 2000. At this station, he also wrote, directed, and starred in the comedic magazine Contalco.
His breakout in the television space was in Doble Filo, a show where he played the character Pupi, a young and talkative barber. In 1993, he became part of the cast of Sabadazo, the television show that propelled him to fame for good.
In Sabadazo, the 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 humor and the simplification of the way humor was made in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary momentum to venture 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 show, inviting young comedians from across the country to participate: What Are You Laughing At?
In 2002, he then began his most significant project, Do You 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 aired until 2009. Some scripts were adapted for the theater, achieving great success.
Ulises Toirac has performed on international stages. In 2011, he went on a tour across 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 important awards that affirm his popularity in Cuba and 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)
- Adorable Lies (1993)
- Pata Negra (1999)
- A King in Havana (2004)
- Chivichana The Movie (2005)
