Olga San Juan

Olga San Juan (March 16, 1927 – January 3, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and on Broadway in Paint Your Wagon.

Early years Olga San Juan was born on March 16, 1927, in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Her family went to Puerto Rico when she was three and then returned to New York City two years later, moving to East Harlem. Her singing career reportedly began when she performed with a group of schoolchildren from New York at the White House for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She left high school in ninth grade after her father became ill, performing at venues including El Morocco and the Hotel Astor. She was especially keen to be cast as Amber La Vonne in Variety Girl (1947).

In the 1940s, San Juan mainly appeared in musicals as "a Latina entertainer or love interest". Her last Hollywood film came out in 1949. According to critic Boze Hadleigh (writing under the pseudonym George Hadley-Garcia), San Juan's departure from film was driven by a shift in the public's musical preferences and by the end of World War II, which caused the Good Neighbor policy to wane.

In 1951, San Juan starred on Broadway in the Lerner and Loewe musical, Paint Your Wagon. She played Jennifer Rumson, a woman who finds gold and gets rich during the California Gold Rush. and married on September 26, 1948, in Santa Barbara, California. They had three children, including television producer and actor Brendan O'Brien and actress and acting coach Maria O'Brien.

Awards Donaldson Award for her work in ''Paint Your Wagon

Filmography Year Title Notes Reference1943 Caribbean Romance Short 1944 Rainbow Island 1945 Bombalera Short Out of This World Duffy's Tavern Hollywood Victory Caravan Short The Little Witch Short 1946 Blue Skies 1947 Variety Girl 1948 Are You With It? One Touch of Venus The Countess of Monte Cristo 1949 The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend 1960 The 3rd Voice