Mayra Gómez Kemp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mayra Gómez Kemp (born 14 February 1948 in Cuba) spent most of her teens in Miami, Florida where she learned to speak fluent English before moving to Spain in the 1970s and beginning her career in show business.

When appearing in the musical comedy The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mayra met her costar and future husband, Argentina-born actor Alberto Berco. In 1976, when the successful TVE contest Un, Dos, Tres... Responda Otra Vez (1972) returned to the small screen to be broadcast in colour for the first time, Mayra auditioned as one of the hostesses of the program. Although she wasn't selected as a hostess, she was offered a steady job as a comic actress in the show and Mayra quickly became a household name.

When the program ended several years later, Mayra teamed up with two of the show's former hostesses, María Durán and Beatriz Escudero to form a pop vocal trio named Acuario ("Aquarius", since that was the zodiac sign of all three women). With Mayra as lead vocalist, they enjoyed a brief but intense popularity thanks to their vocal skills and their charmingly sexy image, scoring a summer hit with Rema, Rema, Marinero ("Row, Row, Sailor"). Mayra left the group soon afterwards to continue her career as TV presenter in programs such as 625 Líneas and Ding Dong. Mayra also recorded an album called Una Dama ("One Lady"), which included her cover of Julio Ramos's anti-abortion pop hit No Te Dejan Nacer ("They Won´t Let You Be Born").

Mayra made her movie debut in 1978 in a film called Donde Hay Patrón... starring Manolo Escobar. Later becoming a Spanish citizen, Mayra turned her activity to the radio as one of the original announcers on the new station Antena 3 (now defunct). Her peak of popularity came when she was called to substitute for Kiko Ledgard, the famous presenter of Un, Dos, Tres..., who had suffered a near-fatal accident. Mayra won the audience over and remained with the program.

After a lengthy stay on Un, Dos, Tres..., Mayra took a break from the media to look after her husband, who was suffering from depression. She returned to television after his full recovery.