Xavier Cugat

Birthday: January 01, 2000

This Spanish violinist and band leader was born in Spain and raised in Havana. He emigrated to the U.S. and worked as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times. In 1928 he began appearing with his first band at the Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood. Greatly helping to popularize Latin rhythms in the U.S., by the 30s and 40s he became known as America's "rumba king." Occasionally he appeared in films, ...more