See also Biography Index (M) :: Filmography Index (M) :: Discography Index (M)

Date of Birth
5 January 1936, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Date of Death
6 September 1963, Hollywood, California, USA (heart disease)

Birth Name
Maria Margarita Suarez Sierra

Mini Biography

Spanish actress-dancer-singer who starred in one U.S. television series before her early death. A native of Madrid, Sierra was an accomplished tap dancer at the age of four. She appeared throughout her childhood in children`s shows and later in nightclubs as a dancer and singer, touring Spain and Central and South America. At the age of 20, she arrived in the U.S. on a nightclub tour. She was a hit appearing on the Jack Paar show, but got her big break in television when Warner Bros. executive William T. Orr spotted her in performance at the Persian Room in New York. He signed her to a contract and gave her the starring role of "Cha Cha O`Brien" in the series "Surfside 6" (1960). The show ran two seasons, and Sierra returned to nightclub performances. In the spring of 1963, Sierra was overcome by a heart ailment and had heart surgery. After several months, she was hospitalized again in Hollywood, where she died on September 6, at the age of 27.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Trivia

The 27-year-old Margarita had a defective heart in which all four valves had to be replaced. During surgery only two valves could be replaced and she wasn`t able to survive through it.

A highly popular nightclub singer and star in Spain when she came to American series TV, Margarita supposedly pulled the diva act while appearing on "Surfside 6" (1960) according to co-star Van Williams in an interview for the the January 2007 issue of "Classic Images" movie magazine. He claims she "could read the riot act to someone and she would treat people on the set badly." He said they eventually became pretty good friends once he "got her off her high horse".