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Iris Chacon, born March 7, 1950, is a Puerto Rican who was, at one time, the world's most famous Vedette.
Iris Chacón was a dancer, singer, and entertainer. Her incredible figure (38-26-42) combined with her alluring looks, scantily clad costumes, and uninhibited display of raw sexuality (with an emphasis on displaying her g-string clad backside) made her a sensation in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries. Although Chacon's voice was considered superb, her dancing abilities became legendary across Latin America and the United States. During her heyday in the 1970's and early 1980's, she toured most of Latin America, the USA, Europe and Japan. She also starred in many movies and soap operas, such as Yo Se Que Mentia. Her acting, like her singing, was considered standard.
In 1983, a television commercial she did for Amalie Coolants became one of the most famous TV commercial's in Puerto Rico's history. The controversy surrounding the commercial landed her in a front page article in the Wall Street Journal in June of 1983 entitled A Onetime Choirgirl Rules as Sex Goddess On Puerto Rican TV. In that article, while Chacon promised to conquer America, like Carmen Miranda, others thought that her skimpy g-string costumes and full figure would not go over among an American audience. The article also quoted the Cardinal of Puerto Rico who spoke negatively of Chacon's influence due to her sexy and wild performances.
Her variety show, El Show De Iris Chacón, aired for more than 15 years on WAPA-TV from 1972-1985. At the same time, it was also broadcast by some Spanish language television stations thrroughout the United States and Latin America. The show allowed her to display her talents as a variety show host and interviewer as well as a dancer. It also contributed to controversy regarding her figure and skimpy costumes.
After her heyday, she moved to Miami and later to Orlando, where she lived more modestly, and found a job acting on a Gullah Gullah Island, a popular children's show that aired on the Nickelodeon cable network.
She has been married to musician Junno Faria for more than 25 years, and they have a daughter, Katiria Faria Chacón, together. Her sisters, Lourdes Chacón and Liliana Chacón also were vedettes who became quite famous in Puerto Rico during the 1980's. Iris and Liliana are now born-again Christians.
She currently hosts a radio show called Caramelo y Chocolate on 102.5 FM in Puerto Rico. A DVD of the best clips from her variety show was scheduled to be released in December 2005 but it appears to have been put off until the summer of 2006.
According to popular legend in Hispanic communities around the continental United States, Puerto Rico, or wherever her television show was aired, it was said that the day after any of Chacón's programs were broadcast, waiting rooms in doctors offices, clinics, and emergency rooms were filled to capacity with male Hispanic senior citizens suffering from dangerously high blood pressure, or serious, sometimes fatal heart conditions. Whether this is true or not, the aforementioned is an affirmation to the sex goddess status that Iris Chacón achieved amongst those who knew and to this day, love her.
In 1984 and 1985 Iris Chacon appeared on American TV shows such as "America Onstage", "The Merv Griffin Show" and "David Letterman", where Letterman described her as the Dolly Parton and Loni Anderson (a popular 1970s and 80s sex symbol and TV actress) of Puerto Rico. Letterman said this of Iris Chacon because of her legendary voluptuous figure, mainly her buttocks, strong long legs, and her naturally endowed breasts. Merv Griffin said of her that "she was the answer to 'where's the beef'", a reference to the Wendy's commercial of that time period. However, by 1984 Iris Chacon seemed to have reached her peak and in 1985 "El Show de Iris Chacon" went off the air.
See also
External links
"Iris Chacón"