Iris Belia Chacón Tapia (born March 7, 1950 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

) is a Puerto Rican dancer, singer, actress, and entertainer. She enjoys great popularity in Puerto Rico (where she had a weekly variety show for more than a decade) and in other Latin American countries, as well as such U.S. locales as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Career

Chacón has been known by various nicknames, such as "La Bomba de Puerto Rico" (The Puerto Rican Bombshell), and "La Vedette de América" (America's Showgirl). During her heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s, she toured most of Latin America, the United States, Europe and Japan. She also starred in two movies and many

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

s, such as '' Yo Sé Que Mentía''.

Amalie Oíl commercial

In 1982, AMCAR, Inc. hired her for a television commercial about

Amalie Oil Company Amalie Oil Company is an American company that manufactures various weights of motor oil, synthetic oil, transmission fluid, and other automotive fluids. The company was founded in Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1903, giving rise to its current slog ...

automobile

coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corrosi ...

products, which became one of the most famous television commercials in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

's history. The publicity surrounding the commercial landed her in a front-page article in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' in June 1983 entitled "A Onetime Choirgirl Rules as Sex Goddess On Puerto Rican TV". The ad employed a play on words between the English word coolant and Spanish culón which means large derrière.

Mid-1980s to present

From 1984 through the early 1990s, Iris Chacón appeared on such American TV shows as ''America Onstage'', ''

The Joan Rivers Show ''The Joan Rivers Show'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers that premiered on September 5, 1989, in broadcast syndication. The show aired for five seasons, and ended in December 1993. The show was nominated for numerous Emmy A ...

'', ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'', ''

Geraldo Rivera Show ''Geraldo'' is an American daytime television tabloid talk show hosted by Geraldo Rivera that aired in syndication from September 7, 1987, to June 12, 1998. The last two seasons aired under the title ''The Geraldo Rivera Show''. The series was ...

'', and ''David Letterman''. Letterman described her as the

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

Loni Anderson Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress who played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early ...

of Puerto Rico and joked about proposing to her. Griffin said of her that "she was the answer to '

Where's the beef? "Where's the beef?" is a catchphrase in the United States and Canada, introduced as a slogan for the fast food chain Wendy's in 1984. Since then it has become an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event, or product. Ralph ...

'", a reference to the

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

commercial of that time period. However, by 1984, Chacón reached her peak, and not being able to reach an "Anglo" market, ended her show in Puerto Rico by mid-1985 at the age of 35. Her show aired in syndication until the end of the 1980s. Outside of the U.S., Chacón appeared on various Spanish-language programs, including ''

Anabel Anabel is a feminine given name. It is the Spanish version of Annabel. Notable people with this given name include: * Anabel Alonso (born 1964), Spanish comedy actress * Anabel Conde (born 1975), Spanish singer * Anabel Gambero (born 1972), fo ...

'', ''

Siempre en Domingo ''Siempre en Domingo'' (translated ''Always on Sunday'') is a Mexican variety show created and hosted by Raúl Velasco. The show aired on Televisa from December 14, 1969 until April 19, 1998 when Velasco retired. ''Siempre en Domingo'' became one ...

,'' ''Mala Noche No'', and ''Al Ritmo de la Noche'' which were all

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

productions.

Personal life

Chacón was married to Puerto Rican musician Junno Faria, from 1977 to Present. They have a daughter together, Katiria. Iris divides her time between residences in Orlando and Puerto Rico.

In Popular Culture

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four'' and '' The Avengers'' for Marvel Comics. In the 198 ...

, a co-creator of The New

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

, along with writer Marv Wolfman, has cited Chacón as an inspiration (along with

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. Marvel Comics p ...

) for the creation of Starfire, as told by George himself during an interview to Vu Nguyen during the AMAZING LAS VEGAS COMIC CON in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chacon, Iris 1950 births Living people Actresses from San Juan, Puerto Rico Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican women singers Puerto Rican dancers Puerto Rican film actresses Puerto Rican telenovela actresses Puerto Rican television personalities 20th-century Puerto Rican actresses 21st-century Puerto Rican actresses