Famous People from El Salvador
Have you heard about them?

There are famous people from El Salvador you ask? Of course there are!! And you just might be surprised to find out who they are and what they do.

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El Salvador is a very small country but it's full with great talented people (and I'm not just saying that ;-) take a look at the list below and see if you recognize any of these names and faces.

Do you know any famous people from El Salvador that are not on this list? Are you a famous person from El Salvador? Tell us who this famous person is at the bottom of this page.

Famous People from El Salvador - Singers

Alvaro Torres was born in Jiquilisco El Salvador and wrote his first song when he was only 12 years old. He is definitely one of my favourite singers of Latin music.

Some of his greatest hits include De Punta a Punta, Mi Amor Por íi and Nada Se Compara Contigo which sent him to the top of the billboard. He has sang duets with other artists like Selena, Jose Feliciano, Paloma San Basilio and Veronica Castro.

Allison Iraheta: Contestant in the world famous singing competition American Idol season 8 and came in 4th place. Allison was born in California to immigrant parents from El Salvador.

Before her big break at American Idol, she had already won other singing competitions such as Telemundo’s Quinceañera on which she sang in both English and Spanish.

This talented singer became an overnight sensation and one of the most famous people of El Salvador.

Famous People from El Salvador - Athletes

Jose has played for several NFL teams like San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins as well as with NMF Europe for a while.

José is now retired from the NFL and enjoys a quite life in Oregon.

Rosemary Casals: Former American professional tennis player. She was born in California to immigrant parents from El Salvador. Rosemary and her sister were raised by her great aunt and uncle who introduced her to tennis and Manuel Casals (her great uncle) became her only tennis coach.

All in all, Rosemary Casals won 112 professional doubles tournaments which is the second most in history, behind only to Martina Navratilova who was her partner at her last doubles championship tournament in 1988. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.

Carlos Hernandez: Light Weight World Boxing Champion. Also known as Carlos “El Famoso” Hernandez is El Salvador’s first Boxing World Champion.

He won the title from “Diamond” Santos in 2003 in the 8th round.

Carlos has a record of 39 wins, 4 losses and one draw with 23 knockouts. He announced his retirement on September 28, 2006.

Famous People from El Salvador - Actors, Actresses

Vanesa Tomasino’s passion for TV hosting and acting has landed her roles in musicals like Oliver Twist and the Sound of Music.

Vanessa now resides in Vancouver, Canada and has hosted several radio shows and now hosts her own on Vancouver’s “The Beat” radio station.

Some of her TV works include Smallville, Martha Speaks, Defying Gravity, The X Files, Robson Arms and a leading role in “A Girl Like Me”.

Rolando Alberto Argueta: Born in San Salvador El Salvador, he immigrated to the US with his mother Ana and his younger brother. Having a passion for movies he took a job as a security guard at Universal Studios where he got his first break.

Story has it that Rolando Argueta was approached by Edward James Olmos and was asked to audition for the film American Me which turned out to be Rolando’s acting debut.

Some of his works beside American Me include To Protect and Serve, Menace II Society, The Rich Man’s Wife, Bruce Almighty as well as many appearances in TV shows Judging Amy, My Wife and Kids, 7th Heaven and more.

Mauricio Merino: This young Australian born Salvadorian actor is sweeping the scene in several shows down under.

Born in Melbourne to Salvadorian parents, Mauricio Merino Jr. has acted in shows like The Elephant Princes, The Pacific – a series by Steven Spielberg and then landed a leading role as Simon Freeman in the popular Australian series The Neighbours.

This young actor sure is keeping busy as he has also landed leading roles 2 the Australian movies The Redback and The Fear Within which will come out in 2011.

When he’s not busy acting, Mauricio Merino likes to play basketball, play the guitar and does some volunteer work as well.

Famous People from El Salvador - Multi-Talents

JR Martinez: It goes without saying, JR has won many fans since his debut on Dancing with Stars TV show.

José René (JR) has also appeared on the daytime drama All My Children after he returned from his military service where he suffered severe burns to 40% of his body.

JR's talent and courage along with the support of his Salvadorian mother, have helped him bounce back and move ahead with his life and is doing quite well at Dancing with the Stars, managing to secure a perfect score.

JR also volunteers his time being a spokesperson and a motivational speaker for veterans facing similar situations.

Famous People from El Salvador - Supermodels

After leaving the runway, Christy Turlington focused her energy and time achieving other aspirations such as launching an apparel line and a skin care line.

She also volunteers much of her material assets and time to many humanitarian causes like the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation.

More Famous People from El Salvador...

Alicia Nash: Wife of mathematician John Nash Forbes whose story was portrayed by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in the film A Beautiful Mind. Alicia was born in San Salvador and moved to US to study physics where he met and married John Nash.

Boxing was his passion as a child to the point of becoming a 3 time Canadian Junior champion but a shoulder injury put a stop to his progress as a boxer.

Omar started training at the Calgary's School jockeys program. In 2009, at 25 years of age, Omar won 54 races and promises to have a great 2010 season. He also received the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion apprentice rider.

Omar is sure on his to competing in some of the most important riding circuits like Europe and United States.

Make sure you comeback soon, as we will add more famous people from El Salvador to our list. Have a story to tell or a famous person to talk about? Go ahead, tell your story!!

El Salvador Culture - Interesting and fun...

El Salvador language - Learn some must-know phrases...

El Salvador Art - poets, sculptors...

El Salvador History Read a little history...

Tourist Attractions Great places to go...

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