Rita Montaner

Who was Rita Montaner?

Rita Montaner, born Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda, was a Cuban singer, pianist, actress and star of stage, film, radio and television. In Cuban parlance, she was a vedette, and she was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and New York, where she performed, filmed and recorded on various occasions. She was probably the best-loved female star in Cuba of the period 1920–1960; they called her Rita de Cuba. Though classically trained, her mark was made as a singer of Afro-Cubanist salon songs.

She was one of three great musicians born in the small town of Guanabacoa in the province of Havana; the others were Bola de Nieve and Ernesto Lecuona. The lives of the three friends were connected professionally; they worked together many times.