Famous People from El Salvador

Athletes

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.

Actor

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.

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

Athletes

Singer

Jose Antonio Cortez

Born in San Vicente, former NFL player who played for the Indianapolis Colts during the 2005 season.

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.

Athletes

Alvaro Torres

Thought to be one of the most influential and well known singer/song writers from El Salvador.

Alvaro Torres was born in Jiquilisco El Salvador and wrote his first song when he was only 12 years old.

Some of his greatest hits include De Punta a Punta, Mi Amor Por ti 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.

Actors

Actresse

Vanesa Tomasino

Born and raised in San Salvador the capital of El Salvador.

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

Vanessa lived in Paris and Vancouver, Canada for a few years and hosted several radio shows and even got her own radio show 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”.

Super model

Super

Model

Singers

Singer

Christy Turlington

Supermodel, who has modeled for companies such as Maybelline, Calvin Klein and Chanel. Christy was born in California, USA, daughter of Dwain Turlington and Maria Elizabeth from El Salvador.

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.

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