Ulises Toirac is a popular Cuban actor, comedian, screenwriter, and theater and television director. 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 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 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 produced the first staging of a theatrical piece Un Brindis por el Zonzo, a theatrical adaptation of a story by Onelio Jorge Cardoso.
At CUJAE, Ulises joined the amateur theater. 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) for the closing event with the National Show Ensemble. This was a turning point in Toirac's life that led him to choose acting, particularly in the field of humor.
After completing his university studies, he founded the group Onondivepa with a group of friends. They put on the play Farewell to the Comrade Benito and participate 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 started 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 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 ultimately catapulted him to fame.
In Sabadazo, a television program hosted by Carlos Otero, Ulises portrayed more than fifteen characters, including the notable Matute and Yudmila.
Despite being a period of success, Ulises has stated in several interviews that it was a contradictory time, as it also marked the beginning of an era of trivialization of jokes and the simplification of humor in Cuba.
This gave him the necessary impetus to delve into solo shows. In these, he stood out for his ability to weave together 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, inviting young comedians from all over the country to participate: What Are You Laughing At?
In 2002, he then began his most ambitious project, Do You Swear to Tell the Truth?. It was a television show that paid tribute 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 the role of 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 one-man 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, 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)
