Romina Yan

Romina Yankelevich (5 September 1974 – 28 September 2010^[1][2]), better known as Romina Yan, was an Argentine actress, screenwriter, singer and dancer. She made her television debut in the program Jugate Conmigo, and is notorious for her portrayal of Belén Fraga in the internationally successful series Chiquititas (as well as on stage, in its annual musical presentations) created by her mother Cris Morena. She died in 2010, aged 36, after suffering a heart attack.^[1]

Family and personal life

Yan was born to actors, television directors and television producers Gustavo Yankelevich and Cris Morena (née María Cristina de Giacomi). She was the elder sister of director, producer and screenwriter Tomás Yankelevich.^[3]

Yan married technical producer Darío Giordano on 27 November 1998.^[4] They had three children.

Career

Romina Yan's first appearance on Argentine television came during 1991, when the then sixteen-year-old appeared as a dancer in a show named Jugate Conmigo ("Come Play With Me"). Two years after that, in 1994, she made her debut as an actress, as "Lorena Picabea" in Mi Cuñado ("My Brother in Law"). Romina Yan continued working as a television actress when she played "Sol Iturbe" in another 1994 show, Quereme ("Love Me").

Towards the end of 1994, her mother was working on a deal with Argentina's largest television company, Telefe, to create a children's soap opera. Chiquititas was the story about the life of a group of orphaned children living in a manor known as Rincón de Luz. Yan starred in the show as Belén, the orphan house's director and a mother figure to the orphans. She also portrayed Belén on stage, in the show's annual musical presentations. Chiquititas catapulted Yan's celebrity status outside Argentina.

She retired from the series in 1998, taking a hiatus before returning to Argentine television in 2000, when she played "Jessica" in one chapter of the suspense television program, Tiempo Final ("Final Moment"). She collaborated in 2001 alongside Susana Giménez in a variety show named after the latter.

She moved to the Argentine Andes later on that year to participate in her first film, Chiquititas: Rincón de Luz ("Corner of Light"), a Chiquititas feature film, once again portraying Belén. Yan also participated alongside Araceli Gonzalez and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne in Provocame ("Provoke Me") in 2001. Yan was hired by the Disney Channel in 2002, to host a children's show, Playhouse Disney, in Argentina. Playhouse Disney Argentina was produced by RGB, her father's company.

In 2003, she returned to acting, playing "Rocio Mazzini" in a soap opera titled Abre tus Ojos ("Open Your Eyes"). While not her first starring role in a telenovela, "Rocio Mazzini" represented for Yan her first starring role in a telenovela geared towards grown ups. She took a year off before returning to the small screens in Argentina, returning as "Abril Juarez" in 2005's Amor Mio ("My Love"). As of late 2007, she had been working on her mother's latest romantic comedy, Bella & Bestia, along Damián De Santo, whom she already worked with in Amor Mio.

Death

Romina Yan died on 28 September 2010, aged 36, after suffering a heart attack.^[2]

Repercussion

Her death shocked Argentina. The Facebook page I can't believe Romina Yan has died (No puedo creer que murió Romina Yan) reached more than 150,000 members in less than two hours. The death was also the top trending topic of the day on Twitter. Cris Morena and Chiquititas were also trending topic through the day.

Telefe, the channel her father was in charge of during the late 1980s and 1990s, canceled its evening schedule. After Casi Angeles, the show produced by her mother, Telefe Noticias, the channel's news program, aired a special 2 hours edition solely dedicated to her. The special achieved 18.3 points, the highest-rated edition of the show in four years.^[5]

Canal 13, Argentina's number 2 net, also had a special 2 hours edition of its news show, Telenoche, which also achieve high ratings. With the exception of the news programs, all live shows in Argentina's biggest networks, Telefe and Canal 13, were not aired in tribute to Yan. The movie The Terminal replaced the live game-show Justo a Tiempo in Telefe. A rerun of Policias en Accion replaced Showmatch in Canal 13.

Filmography

Discography

• 1995 — Chiquititas Vol. 1
• 1996 — Chiquititas Vol. 2
• 1997 — Chiquititas Vol. 3
• 1998 — Chiquititas Vol. 4
• 2001 — Chiqutitias: Rincón de Luz

References

External links

• Romina Yan at the Internet Movie Database
• Romina Yan at Cinenacional.com