Chelo Alonso

Alonso first gained recognition in Cuba for her dancing ability, becoming a sensation at Cuba's National Theatre in Havana. She soon emerged as a new exotic dancing talent at the Folies Bergère in Paris, billed as the "new Josephine Baker" and the "Cuban H-Bomb." Her act mixed Afro-Cuban rhythms with "bump and grind."

Most of Alonso's films were adventure movies in the style of Hercules, a genre that required exotic talent. Her dark beauty fit the bill, and she starred with Steve Reeves in Goliath and the Barbarians in 1959, earning the award of "Italian Cinema's Female Discovery." She was first noticed internationally in the 1959 film Sign of the Gladiator. Her erotic dance number made her more prominent on the film's posters than the leads, Anita Ekberg and Georges Marchal. After Desert War in 1962, she left film for television and returned in 1966's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, her most widely distributed film, though her role was small and non-speaking.

In 1961, Alonso married Aldo Pomilia, a production manager and producer for many of her films. After his death, she moved to Siena, Italy, where she retired and started a cat-breeding business and a four-star hotel. She passed away in 2019 at age 85.

She was 5'6", with brown hair and brown eyes, and a slim body type. Her measurements were 36-23-36, with a 36D bra cup. She was a natural. Her professional work included acting and adult modeling, with implied nudity only.

Her legacy endures as a cult figure, remembered for her fiery performances and dance scenes that left a lasting impression on cinema.