What Is María Conchita Alonso’s Net Worth?
María Conchita Alonso is a Cuban-born, Venezuelan-raised singer, songwriter, actress, and producer who has a net worth of $8 million. María started her career in music as a singer in the Spanish-speaking market, and she received her first gold album and #1 song in 1979 with “Love Maniac.” Alonso has earned three Grammy nominations for her music: Best Latin Pop Performance for 1984’s “María Conchita” and 1987’s “Otra Mentira Mas” and Best Latin Pop Album for 1992’s “Imagíname.”
In 1995, Alonso made her Broadway debut in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” making her the first Latin American actress born outside of the U.S. to star in a Broadway musical. María has more than 100 acting credits to her name, including the films “The Running Man” (1987), “Colors” (1988), “Predator 2” (1990), “The Company You Keep” (2003), “Richard III” (2008), and “Lords of Salem” (2012) and the television series “One of the Boys” (1989), “Alejandra” (1994), “Resurrection Blvd.” (2000–2001), “Saints & Sinners” (2007), “El Señor de los Cielos” (2018), and “FraXtur” (2021). Alonso has also served as a producer on the TV series “Picante” (1992) and the films “Blind Heat” (2001), “Dark Moon Rising” (2009), and “Return to Babylon” (2013).
Early Life
María Conchita Alonso was born María Concepción Alonso Bustillo on June 29, 1957, in Cienfuegos, Cuba. She is the daughter of Conchita Bustillo and Ricardo Alonso, and she has two brothers, Ricardo and Robert. When María was 5 years old, her family left Cuba for Venezuela after the Cuban Revolution. In 1971, Alonso won the Miss Teenager World pageant, and she was crowned Miss World/Venezuela four years later. She also competed in the Miss World pageant and was the sixth runner-up.
Career
In 1979, María released the hit single “Love Maniac” under the stage name Ámbar, and she followed it with another #1 hit, “The Witch.” “Vamos a Bailar,” which Alonso performed on the “Scarface” soundtrack, is considered her best-known song; Giorgio Moroder composed the music and asked María to write Spanish lyrics for the song. She began garnering International attention with the 1984 album “María Conchita,” and the album earned her a Grammy nomination. Alonso made her film debut in 1978’s “Predators of the Savannah,” and her first Hollywood movie was 1984’s “Moscow on the Hudson,” which co-starred Robin Williams. She guest-starred on “Fantasy Island” (1982), “Knight Rider” (1982), and “Nacho” (1983), and she starred as Maria Conchita Navarro on the 1989 NBC sitcom “One of the Boys.” María appeared in the films “Fear City” (1984), “A Fine Mess” (1986), “Touch and Go” (1986), “Extreme Prejudice” (1987), “The Running Man” (1987), “Colors” (1988), “Con el corazón en la mano” (1988), and “Vampire’s Kiss” (1989), and in 1990, she played Detective Leona Cantrell in “Predator 2.” She starred in the title role on the 1994 Venezuelan telenovela “Alejandra,” and she appeared in the TV movies “Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story” (1992), “Texas” (1994), “MacShayne: The Final Roll of the Dice” (1994), “Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus #17” (1996), and “My Husband’s Secret Life” (1998).
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Alonso guest-starred on “Chicago Hope” (1997), “F/X: The Series” (1997), “The Nanny” (1998), “The Outer Limits” (1998), and “Touched by an Angel” (1999), and she appeared in the films “McBain” (1991), “Roosters” (1993), “The House of the Spirits” (1993), “Caught” (1996), “Acts of Betrayal” (1997), and “Exposé” (1998). She played Vice President Gloria Valdez in the 2000 HBO movie “Chain of Command,” then she starred in the films “Knockout” (2000), “Blind Heat” (2001), “Heart of America” (2002), “Chasing Papi” (2003), “English as a Second Language” (2005), “Smoke” (2005), “Material Girls” (2006), and “The Art of Travel” (2008). Around this time, María also portrayed Queen Elizabeth in the 2008 film “Richard III,” played the mother of Eva Longoria’s Gabrielle Solis in an episode of “Desperate Housewives” (2006), and starred as Diana Martin on the MyNetworkTV telenova “Saints & Sinners” (2007). Alonso played Alice Matthias in the 2012 Rob Zombie supernatural horror film “Lords of Salem,” and she portrayed Mexican actress/singer Lupe Vélez in the 2014 silent film “Return to Babylon.” She appeared in the films “November Rule” (2016), “Kill ‘Em All” (2017), “Off the Menu” (2017), “¡He matado a mi marido!” (2018), “I’d Like to Be Alone Now” (2019), “Take Me to Tarzana” (2021), and “Jezabel” (2022), and she played Nora Requena on the Telemundo series “El Señor de los Cielos” in 2018.
Personal Life
María became a U.S. citizen in 2005, and she endorsed Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. In 2014, she appeared in a campaign ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, who is known for “strong views against illegal immigration,” and the backlash that ensued resulted in Alonso dropping out of a Spanish-language production of “The Vagina Monologues” at San Francisco’s Brava Theater Center. In the 2016 presidential election, she supported Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
María has been a vocal critic of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, and in 2010, she published an open letter to Sean Penn in which she questioned his support of Chavez. In December 2011, the former “Colors” co-stars got into a “heated run-in” at Los Angeles International Airport that culminated with Penn calling Alonso a pig and María replying, “And you are a communist, Sean Penn!”
In 2014, the Venezuelan government announced that it was planning on asking a judge to revoke Alonso’s Venezuelan citizenship after she said in an interview that the U.S. should “invade using bullets to get all those communists out of Venezuela.” María has long been a supporter of LGBT rights, and she told the “Windy City Times” in 2004, “I was very much supported by the community when I first came out with my music—first in Venezuela and then worldwide. I guess because I’m a strong person, I don’t care what others say. I do what I believe is right for me because I respect other’s beliefs. [With] the kind of music that I perform, I did get a lot of respect and handholding from the community. It’s just like Cher!”
Awards and Nominations
Alonso has earned two ALMA Award nominations, winning Outstanding Actress in Made-for Television Movie or Mini-Series for “My Husband’s Secret Life” in 1999. Her other nomination was for Outstanding Performance by an Individual or Act in a Variety/Music Series or Special for “A Capitol Fourth” (1998). In 1985, María won a Premios ACE for TV – Best Supporting Actress for “El esposo de Anaís,” and in 1997, she was named Outstanding Performer of the Year at the Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards. In 1998, she was honored with the Prize of the City of Huelva at the Huelva Latin American Film Festival, and in 2006, she won the LA Femme Filmmaker Award – Pioneer Award at the LA Femme International Film Festival. Alonso received the Tree of Life Award at FICG in LA in 2017, and she has earned nominations from the NCLR Bravo Awards (“Latino Laugh Festival”) and Film Independent Spirit Awards (“Caught”).
Real Estate
In 1986, María paid $565,000 for a 3,732 square foot home in Beverly Hills, California, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.