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''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (English: I am Betty, the Ugly one), often referred to simply as ''Betty, la fea'', is a Colombian
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 ...
created by
Fernando Gaitán Fernando Gaitán Salom (9 November 1960 – 29 January 2019) was a Colombian TV series and telenovela screenwriter as well as a producer. Career Fernando Gaitán was known for weaving different histories into diverse social contexts. He gained ...
. It aired from 25 October 1999 to 8 May 2001 on RCN. Ana María Orozco stars as the titular character, alongside
Jorge Enrique Abello Jorge Enrique Abello (born 28 February 1968) is a Colombian actor. Abello has performed roles in telenovelas, such as: the original version of ''La viuda de Blanco'' (The Widow in white) 1996, as "Dr. Dimas Pantoja", opposite Yolandita Monge as ...
,
Natalia Ramírez Natalia Ramírez is a Colombian people, Colombian television actress. She is best known for her appearance as Marcela Valencia in ''Yo soy Betty, la fea, Yo Soy Betty, la Fea'' (English language: ''I Am Betty, the Ugly''), a comedy-drama teleno ...
,
Lorna Cepeda Lorna María Cepeda Jiménez (born November 18, 1970), is a Colombian actress. Best known for her role in the famous Colombian Soap Opera ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (I'm Betty, the ugly one), also known as simply ''Betty la fea (Ugly Betty)'' from ...
, Luis Mesa and
Julián Arango Julián Arango Robledo (born October 6, 1969) is a Colombian television actor. He is best known to fans around the world for his role as the temperamental fashion designer Hugo Lombardi in the Colombian mega-hit telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fe ...
. It is the first telenovela to have been remade worldwide and has been regarded as bringing the telenovela to new levels of success. The story's appeal to global audiences has been credited to it being centered around the life of an unattractive character rather than that of a typical attractive character.


Plot

Taking place mainly in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, Colombia, ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' is essentially a Cinderella comedy about the rise of poor, ugly 'Betty' Beatriz Pinzón Solano and the fall of rich, handsome Armando Mendoza. Armando is a very incompetent playboy with a scheme to turn a huge profit as the new president of Eco Moda, a famous clothing manufacturing company, alongside the new vice-president Mario Calderon. However, his scheme is doomed for his faulty mathematics. Betty, his secretary (and economics wizard), is in love with him despite his engagement to Marcela Valencia. She helps Armando deceive the board of directors as he loses money and brings the company to ruin. The story has three movements: 1) Armando's foolish destruction of Eco Moda, 2) Betty's flight from the disgrace and her temporary new job in Cartagena where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation, and 3) Betty's return to Eco Moda, where she is installed as new CEO.


Cast


Main

* Ana María Orozco as Beatriz "Betty" Aurora Pinzón Solano; A rather uncouth woman but very skilled in economics with a good CV. Later becomes a CEO assistant and economist. She is the pride of her parents. She is in love with Armando Mendoza. *
Jorge Enrique Abello Jorge Enrique Abello (born 28 February 1968) is a Colombian actor. Abello has performed roles in telenovelas, such as: the original version of ''La viuda de Blanco'' (The Widow in white) 1996, as "Dr. Dimas Pantoja", opposite Yolandita Monge as ...
as Armando Mendoza Sáenz; Eco Moda's CEO. A somewhat irresponsible playboy with only basic knowledge in industrial engineering who presents a risky and ambitious proposal with which he wins the presidency of Eco Moda. When he manages it, it brings the company to the brink of bankruptcy, thus Betty steps in to help. Despite being a completely superficial playboy, he sincerely falls in love with Betty, seeing beyond her ugliness. *
Natalia Ramírez Natalia Ramírez is a Colombian people, Colombian television actress. She is best known for her appearance as Marcela Valencia in ''Yo soy Betty, la fea, Yo Soy Betty, la Fea'' (English language: ''I Am Betty, the Ugly''), a comedy-drama teleno ...
as Marcela Valencia; Armando's fiancée and Eco Moda's stockholder and retail manager. Despite her dislike of Betty, she is not actually a bad person, but a woman full of pride, classism and lacks dignity, and she loves Armando. She later willingly gives up on him as she discovers he actually loves Betty. *
Lorna Cepeda Lorna María Cepeda Jiménez (born November 18, 1970), is a Colombian actress. Best known for her role in the famous Colombian Soap Opera ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (I'm Betty, the ugly one), also known as simply ''Betty la fea (Ugly Betty)'' from ...
as Patricia Fernández; Marcela's best friend and secretary. A divorced woman, refined and superficial, as well as materialist, she is looking for a rich husband. Armando hates her because she is a
dumb blonde Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes have historically been portrayed as physically attractive, though often perceived as less ...
and knows that Marcela wants her as Armando's secretary to watch over his infidelities. *Luis Mesa as Daniel Felipe Valencia; Marcela's brother. Male chauvinist and arrogant, shareholder of Eco Moda. He rivals and dislikes Armando and unlike him, he is realistic and the only one worried about his company. He has an affair with Patricia. *
Julián Arango Julián Arango Robledo (born October 6, 1969) is a Colombian television actor. He is best known to fans around the world for his role as the temperamental fashion designer Hugo Lombardi in the Colombian mega-hit telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fe ...
as Hugo Lombardi; Eco Moda's fashion designer. Openly gay and arrogant, who despises ugliness. He dislikes almost everyone at Eco Moda and especially hates Eco Moda's secretaries, whom he nicknames 'The Ugly Cuartel', with the exception of Inesita who is perhaps the only person he actually cares for. Arango was married to Ana María Orozco during the recording. *
Ricardo Vélez Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born 19 ...
as Mario Calderón; Armando's best friend and Eco Moda's commercial vice president. A staunch playboy, inveterate enemy of commitments and fatherhood, he is strangely enough a rather neutral figure. *
Mario Duarte Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...
as Nicolás Flaminio Mora Cifuentes; Betty's best friend and economist. Like Betty, he is unattractive and highly intelligent. He is in love with Patricia and boasts of his position as president of Terramoda. Patricia softens to him but only because of his newfound wealth. * Kepa Amuchastegui as Roberto Mendoza; Armando's father, founder of the company. Kind hearted and intelligent. * Talú Quintero as Margarita Sáenz de Mendoza; Armando's mother. * Adriana Franco as Julia Solano Galindo de Pinzón; Betty's mother. Loves her daughter dearly. * Jorge Herrera as Hermes Pinzón Galarza; Betty's father and accountant. *
Pilar Uribe Pilar, Portuguese and Spanish for pillar, may refer to: People * Pilar (given name), a common abbreviation of ''María del Pilar'', including a list of people so named * Pilar (surname), a list of people surnamed Pilar or del Pilar Places Argen ...
as María Beatriz Valencia; Marcela's and Daniel's sister. Carefree woman who loves opulence. *Julio César Herrera as Freddy Stewart Contreras; messenger, infatuated with Aura Maria and also in love of Jenny. Flamboyant but not gay, he is a very happy man. * Dora Cadavid as Inés "Inesita" Ramírez de Muriel; seamstress, member of the cuartel. Kind and wise, she is the elderly assistant to Hugo Lombardi who loves her like a mother. She is the voice of reason and is as sane as Betty in the cuartel. *
Estefanía Gómez Estefanía Gómez (born Carmenza Estefanía Gómez Osorio on November 19, 1976, in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia), is a Colombian actress. She is best known as Aura María Fuentes in Yo soy Betty, la fea.https://www.angelfire.com/tv2/bettylafea/au ...
as Aura María Fuentes Rico; receptionist, member of the cuartel. Single mother looking for a husband and stepfather for her son. Beautiful and voluptuous, she is usually promiscuous but with a big heart. * Paula Peña as Sofía López de Rodríguez; secretary, member of the cuartel. Divorced woman who constantly fights with her ex-husband Efraín over their children's pension. She has a feud with Jenny, the current romantic partner of her ex-husband. Formerly Gustavo Olarte's secretary and after his dismissal, she temporarily becomes Betty's secretary. * Luces Velásquez as Bertha Muñoz de González; Gutiérrez' secretary, somewhat gluttonous, member of the cuartel. She is married with children and deeply loves her husband. She occasionally imitates Patricia's way of dressing. *
Marcela Posada Marcela is a feminine given name which may refer to: Musicians *Marcela Bovio, Mexican musician * Marcela Lucatelli (born 1988), Brazilian composer * Marcela Morelo, Argentine singer-songwriter * Marcela Oroši, Croatian singer * Marcela Rodrígu ...
as Sandra Patiño; Calderón's secretary, member of the cuartel. Known for her height. She is usually aggressive with whoever is the enemy of the cuartel. *
María Eugenía Arboleda Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
as Mariana Valdés; Marcela's secretary, member of the cuartel. Known for reading tarot, she is very optimistic and a lover of rumba. *
Celmira Luzardo Celmira Luzardo Montenegro (31 March 1952 – 12 March 2014) was a Colombian actress. She was noted for her performance in the soap operas ''La tregua'' (1980), ''La potra zaina'' (1994), ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' (1999). Biography Luzardo was ...
as Catalina Ángel; Betty's "fairy godmother" and public relationist. A dignified, loquacious, eloquent and recognized woman. * Alberto León Jaramillo as Saúl Gutiérrez; Eco Moda's Director of Human Resources. Pedantic and smug man who also despises ugliness and is known for his "Spanglish". He usually sides with whoever is in charge. *
Marta Isabel Bolaños Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...
as Jenny García; Efraín's younger girlfriend. Attractive but quite dimwitted and materialistic, she rivals Sofía for Efraín's money. She calls Efraín "''pupuchurro''". *David Ramírez as Wilson Sastoque Mejía; Eco Moda's security guard and friend to Betty and her friends. *
Raúl Santa Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...
as Efraín Rodríguez Merchán "El Cheque"; Sofia's ex-husband and Jenny's boyfriend. *
Patrick Delmas Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...
as Michel Doinel; Betty's handsome friend and suitor. He is in love with Betty, to whom he offers a stable relationship without caring that she is virtually ugly. *
Diego Cadavid Diego Cadavid (born Diego Andrés Cadavid on December 8, 1978) is a Colombian actor, cinematographer and musician known for his roles in telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin ...
as Román; a street rat.


Recurring

* Alberto Valdiri as "Gordito" González, Bertha's husband. * Angeline Moncayo as Karina Larson. Formerly a model and Armando's ex-mistress. *
Carlos Serrato Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...
as Gustavo Olarte, Eco Moda's ex-financial vice president. Daniel's right hand. *
César Mora Cesar Mora (born October 2, 1961) is a leading musician and actor in Colombia. He was born in Cali, and later spent fourteen years as part of the famed Son Del Pueblo band. Cesar composed the songs in the Colombian musical "Y Se Armo La Moji ...
as Antonio Sánchez, Betty's lawyer. * Claudia Becerra as Mónica Agudelo. * Diego Vivanco as Rolando "el Chesito su mercé", Hugo's boyfriend. Is bisexual. * Germán Tóvar as José Ambrosio Rosales; lawyer, Antonio's colleague. * Hugo Perez as Rafael Muriel, Inesita's ex-husband. * Iván Piñeros as Jimmy Fuentes (Aura María's son). * Lorena McAllister as Diana Medina. * Luis Enrique Roldán as Juan Manuel Santamaría, penalist Eco Moda's lawyer. * Miguel Ángel Báes as a 2nd systems engineer. * Paulo Sánchez Neira as Miguel Ortíz, Eco Moda's ex-systems engineer at the service of Olarte. *
Rubén Óliver Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...
as Miguel Robles, corrupt president of Rag Tela. * Sebastián Sánchez as Miguel. (2001) *
Scarlet Ortiz Scarlet Ortiz (born Hevis Scarlet Ortiz Pacheco) March 12, 1974 is a Venezuelan actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She is known for her role in telenovelas. Biography Scarlet started her acting career in a children's show called Nubeluz i ...
as Alejandra Zingg. *
Yesenia Valencia Yesenia Valencia (born 16 March 1991) is a Guatemalan recurve archer. She competed in the individual recurve event at the 2015 World Archery Championships The 2015 World Archery Championships was the 48th edition of the event. It was held ...
as Susi. * Verónica Ocampo as Claudia Bosch, an attractive model obsessed with Armando since both had an affair. *
Vilma Vera Vilma is a feminine first name. People named Vilma include: *Ana Vilma de Escobar (b. 1954), Salvadoran politician *Vilma Åhlström (b. 2000), Swedish curler *Vilma Álvarez (b. 1970), Cuban softball player *Vilma Bánky (1901–1991), Hungari ...
as Maruja Bravo de Gutiérrez, Saul Gutiérrez's wife.


Sequels and spin-offs


''Ecomoda''

The success of ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'' led to its first sequel titled ''Ecomoda''. It premiered first on
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
on 2 December 2001, concluding on 2 June 2002. Some scenes from the first episode were filmed in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, and some scenes for the opening sequence were filmed in Miami, Florida. In Colombia, the series premiered on 21 May 2002.


''Betty Toons''

'' Betty Toons'' is an animated television series that features Betty as a child with her friends. It aired on
RCN Televisión RCN Televisión, branded as Canal RCN (''Radio Cadena Nacional'') is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Organización Ardila Lülle. It was founded as a television production company on March 23, 1967, and officially launched a ...
between 2002 and 2003. In the U.S., ''Betty Toons'' previously aired Saturday mornings on most affiliates of Telefutura (now UniMás), as part of the ''
Toonturama ''Toonturama'' is an American children's programming block that airs on the Spanish-language television network UniMás (formerly known as Telefutura Network) which debuted on January 15, 2002 ("Mi Tele") and January 19, 2002 ("Toonturama" and "T ...
'' block from 2006 to 2008.


''Betty, la fea: la historia continúa''

In July 2023, it was announced that
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
had ordered a second sequel series. The series, titled '' Betty, la fea: la historia continúa'' premiered on 19 July 2024.


International remakes


See also

* List of Colombian TV Shows *
Cinema of Colombia Cinema of Colombia refers to film productions made in Colombia, or considered Colombian for other reasons. Colombian cinema, like any national cinema, is a historical process with industrial and artistic aspects. Historically, Colombian cinema ...
*
Culture of Colombia Many aspects of Colombian culture can be traced back to the early culture of Spain of the 16th century and its collision with Colombia's native civilizations (see: Muisca, Tayrona). The Spanish brought Catholicism, the feudal encomienda syste ...
*
List of television show franchises The following is a list of international television shows media franchise, franchises. These are shows remake, remade for foreign markets rather than adaptations. Reality shows * ''10 Years Younger (UK), 10 Years Younger'' * ''30 Seconds to Fa ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yo Soy Betty, La Fea 1999 Colombian television series debuts 1999 telenovelas 2000 telenovelas 2001 Colombian television series endings 2001 telenovelas Colombian comedy television series Comedy telenovelas Fashion-themed television series RCN Televisión telenovelas Spanish-language telenovelas Television shows set in Bogotá