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Orlando Manrufo, the comedian who created Mariconchi, has died

The actor died on Wednesday in Cuba, as confirmed by the Centro Promotor del Humor and several colleagues. For years he filled Havana's Teatro América with "La esquina de Mariconchi."

Cuban comedian Orlando Manrufo Córdova, known for his character Mariconchi, died on Wednesday in Cuba, as confirmed by the Centro Promotor del Humor, the state body that promotes comedy, and several colleagues including Luis Silva, Carlos Otero and Marcos García.

Sources differ on his age: 14ymedio says 68 and Granma says 71. Cubanet notes that he was born in 1955 and that the Centro Promotor del Humor did not say when, where or of what he died.

Manrufo had trained as a marine transport engineer and worked in that field for 16 years, according to Granma, before turning to voice impressions and comic acting. He came to the stage through the amateur theater group Olga Alonso and moved towards comedy in the late 1980s.

His creation was Mariconchi, an older woman, nosy and sharp-tongued, who held forth on family quarrels, economic hardship or the obsession with travelling abroad. "I thought that through the character of Mariconchi, this kind of spontaneous, Cuban, talkative woman who speaks her mind, would have the chance to say more things," he said in an interview recalled by Granma.

The show La esquina de Mariconchi filled the Teatro América, on Galiano street in Centro Habana, for years, under the artistic direction of Ricardo Isidrón. Manrufo won a prize at the Aquelarre National Comedy Festival in 1997 and in 2003 he co-hosted the festival's closing gala with Marcos García. 14ymedio notes that, although he was not among the comedians favoured by state television, he packed the hall with his show.

He remained active until recently: on October 4 he appeared in episode 93 of the programme La Risa por Delante, on the channel El Vidrio, where he told stories about dubbing work for Multivisión and about an endoscopy that went wrong when the power was cut. His daughter, the actress Olivia Manrufo, asked on social media that admirers come to say goodbye at the Bernardo García funeral home in Centro Habana.

Sources: 14ymedio · Cubadebate · Granma · Cubanet

Data updated: 2026-11-05T04:30:00.000Z

Orlando Manrufo, the comedian who created Mariconchi, has died | Yamacoa Observatory