Mayra Gómez Kemp

Mayra Gómez Kemp
Born	Mayra Cristina Gómez Martínez Kemp Febles (1948-02-14) February 14, 1948  Cuba La Habana, Cuba
Nationality	Spanish and Cuban
Occupation	Television host, actress, singer
Years active	1967-present
Notable work	Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez
Parent(s)	Ramiro Gómez Kemp Velia Martínez

Mayra Cristina Gómez Martínez Kemp Febles was born the 14th of February, 1948 in La Habana, Cuba. She is the daughter of two famous Cuban artists, Ramiro Gómez Kemp and Velia Martínez. She has an older sister named Georgina, who is an accountant in Miami. On the first of February, 1960, her family moved to Puerto Rico, later moving to Venezuela and finally settling in Miami. In 1967, as a college student she appeared in the B-movie The Death Curse of Tartu, under the stage name Mayra Christine. In the 70's, Mayra went to Spain to perform in the Spanish theatrical production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. On stage she worked alongside Argentine actor Alberto Berco who played the role of the narrator, who in time became her husband.

In 1976, when the successful TVE game show Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez returned to television to be broadcast in color for the first time, Mayra auditioned for the role of one of the secretaries on the program. Although she wasn't selected as a secretary, she was hired to perform small roles as a comic actress on the show and Mayra's appearances made her famous by the time she left the show in 1977.

That year, Mayra teamed up with two of the show's former secretaries, María Durán and Beatriz Escudero to form the pop vocal band Trío Acuario ("Aquarius Trio", 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 in 1978 to pursue a solo career, recording the album 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"). She also began her career as a television presenter on programs such as "625 líneas" (her debut as presenter and first TP Award out of four as best presenter) and "Ding Dong". Mayra also returned to film in 1978 with Donde Hay Patrón..., starring alongside 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). Along with other presenters she appeared on the children's show Sabadabada, later titled Dabadabada. She left Dabadabada in 1982 when she was chosen by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador as a substitute for Kiko Ledgard, the famous host of Un, Dos, Tres..., who had suffered a near-fatal accident. Mayra won the audience over and remained with the program for six years, longer than any other host, earning three more TP awards for best host.

After leaving the show in 1988, she continued working on radio, and went on to host the chat show Tres mas Una on regional station Canal Sur TV.

With the launch of commercial television in Spain in 1989, Mayra returned to television and hosted La Ruleta de la Fortuna, Spain's version of Wheel of Fortune on Antena 3TV, until 1991. On the same channel she fronted the talk show Simplemente Mayra. After La Ruleta de la Fortuna, she went on to host the regional show Luna de miel in 1992.

Since then her appearances as a host slowed, with Mayra appearing on the occasional regional show. In 1996 she hosted the medical program El ritmo de la vida on Madrid-based Canal 7. She last hosted a show in 1999 for the cookery based game show Tomates y Pimientos. Following the end of Tomates y Pimientos she has appeared sporadically as a "tertuliana" (guest) on various programs, as well giving interviews. In this respect, she has made contributions to Menta y Chocolate, A 3 Bandas (Antena 3TV), Salsa Rosa, Dolce Vita, A Tu Lado and TNT (Tele5).

At the end of 2006, she appeared on the second season of the stand-up contest show El Club de Flo, winning second place. In 2007, she briefly appeared on the show "A 3 Bandas" on Antena 3 Televisión. In 2008 she appeared regularly as a guest on the morning talk-show Sin ir más lejos on Aragón TV.

In October 2009, she revealed that in January of the same year she had been diagnosed with tongue cancer, for which she had surgery.^[1] While not resulting in any threat to her life, it affected her speech, making it initially impossible for her to talk. Over the course of a year, with the help of speech therapists and specialists, she completely regained her ability to speak, albeit with a slightly affected pronunciation as a sequela.

Since 2010, she has made appearances on shows on Telecinco such as Sálvame Deluxe to talk about her successful recovery from her illness, but on the 11th of February, 2012 she revealed on La noria the return of her cancer, this time in her throat.^[2] On the July 13, she officially announced on Sálvame Deluxe that she was cancer-free.

Prizes

• 1979 TP de Oro for best female host– for 625 líneas
• 1983 TP de Oro for best female host– for Un, dos, tres...
• 1986 TP de Oro for best female host– for Un, dos, tres...
• 1988 TP de Oro for best female host– for Un, dos, tres...
• 2013 Premio Iris on a whole life - Academia de las Ciencias y las Artes de Televisión de España.^[3]

Filmography

• The Death Curse of Tartu (1966) of William Grefe, as Cindy.^[4]
• Donde hay patrón (1978) of Mariano Ozores, as Martirio.^[5]

Notable published works

• ¡Y hasta aquí puedo leer! (2014).^[6] ISBN 9788401347160

External links

• Mayra Gómez Kemp at the Internet Movie Database
• 123Mayra.com (Spanish)
• The Death Curse of Tartu

References