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 sector.
Since his pre-university studies, he began to perform as an amateur artist. In 1981, he formed a theater group for which he wrote the comedic play Colón en el Onceno Festival. With this group, he also completed the first staging 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 Show Ensemble. This was a turning point in Toirac's life that led him to choose acting, and especially humor, as his path.
After completing their university degree, they founded the group Onondivepa, along with a group of friends. They staged the play Farewell to Grief of 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 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 broadcast by Radio Progreso, called Youth 2000. At this station, he also wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy magazine Contalco.
His breakthrough in television came with Doble Filo, a show where he played the character Pupi, a young and talkative barber. In 1993, he joined 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 humor in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary push to venture into solo performances. In these, he stood out for his ability to connect different themes, attitudes, and talents. The first solo performance was Con Las Tiras del Pellejo (1995). This was followed by El Flaco (1996).
In 1999, he made his return to television with his own show, where he invited young comedians from across the country to participate: What Are You Laughing At?
In 2002, he began his most ambitious project, ¿Jura Decir La Verdad?. It was a television show that paid tribute to La Tremenda Corte, an internationally renowned Cuban humor program written by Castor Vispo and starred by Leopoldo Fernández and Aníbal de Mar.
In Do you swear to tell the truth? Toirac portrayed 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 in 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, as well as 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)
