Iris Belia Chacón Tapia (born March 7, 1950) is a Puerto Rican dancer, singer, actress, and entertainer. Known as "La Bomba de Puerto Rico" and "La Vedette de América," Chacón is a prominent figure in Latin America, the United States, Europe, and Japan during the 1970s and early 1980s. She starred in films, telenovelas, and appeared in one of Puerto Rico's most famous TV commercials.

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 (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

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 sloga ...

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 corr ...

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

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

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

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' 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 (

buttocks The buttocks (: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed of a lay ...

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 first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Joan Rivers. The show ran for four seasons, from September 5, 1989, to December 26, 1993. History The show aired for five seasons and ended in December ...

'', ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

'', '' Geraldo Rivera Show'', and ''David Letterman''. Letterman described her as the

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Loni Anderson Loni Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress. She 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 life ...

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. Histo ...

'", a reference to the

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

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 language, Spanish version of Annabel (disambiguation), Annabel. People Notable people with this given name include: * Anabel Alonso (born 1964), Spanish comedy actress * Anabel Conde (born 197 ...

'', ''

Siempre en Domingo ''Siempre en Domingo'' (translated ''Always on Sunday'') was 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 o ...

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

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

productions.

Personal life

Chacón has been married to Puerto Rican musician Junno Faria since 1977. They are the parents of a daughter, Katiria. Chacón 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 (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

, 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 Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

, has cited Chacón as an inspiration (along with

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a sword-and-sorcery character 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. A warrior from the Hyborian Age of Ear ...

) for the creation of Starfire, as told by George himself during an interview to Vu Nguyen during the 2019 Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. In June 2023, Puerto Rican drag queen

Jessica Wild José David Sierra, better known as Jessica Wild (born June 10, 1980), is a Puerto Rican drag queen, professional make-up artist, and reality television personality. She was a contestant on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the e ...

impersonated Iris during the "Snatch Game of Love" challenge on the fifth episode of the eight season of the reality competition series

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

. Iris is the subject of two songs written about her: "Iris Chacon" that appears on Buster Pointdexter's (the alter ego of actor/singer

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...

) 1997 album "

Buster's Spanish Rocketship ''Buster's Spanish Rocketship'' is an album by Buster Poindexter, the alter ego of singer David Johansen. Following ''...Rocketship'', Johansen returned to recording albums under his real name. The album was named after Buster's new backing band ...

" and "Iris Chacon" a

Latin trap Latin trap is a subgenre of Latin hip hop music that originated in Puerto Rico. A direct descendant of southern hip hop and trap, and influenced by reggaeton, R&B and urbano music. it gained popularity after 2007, and has since spread throug ...

single released by Puerto Rican rapper

Jon Z Jonathan Resto Quiñones (born May 20, 1991), known professionally as Jon Z, is a Puerto Rican rapper and record producer. He was nominated for "Song of the Year" Urbano / Trap in Premios Lo Nuestro 2020 and in two categories in the Premios Tu M ...

in 2020.

References

External links

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