Vivian El Jaber
Vivian El Jaber is an Argentine actress, comedian and playwright. She is best known for her roles on the sketch show Cha Cha Cha, as Débora in Guapas and as Isabel in Farsantes.
Biography
El Jaber was born in Buenos Aires in 1964. Her father was of Syrian descent and her mother was of Portuguese and Galician descent. She has at least two sisters—one younger and one older—and her father taught mathematical physics. She was raised in Palermo, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.She studied theatre with Roberto Saiz and Norman Briski and made her on-stage debut in 1986 at age 19 in the one-woman play De la pupila para adentro, which she had written. She frequented Parakultural in her early career. In 1991, she received a Bienal Arte Jóven award for her one-woman show F. E. A.. In addition to acting onstage — including in productions such as La llamada, Julio César and Tootsie — El Jaber is an occasional playwright. When not writing alone, her most frequent writing collaborator is Mónica Gazpio. El Jaber was part of the main cast of Martín Bossi's Impostor plays for five seasons.
El Jaber was a cast member of the sketch show De la cabeza in the early 1990s and was the only woman to remain on the cast of Cha Cha Cha until the end of its run. She later worked on Patito Feo as Dorinha, Alguien que me quiera as Coca, Farsantes as Isabel and Guapas as Débora. In 2014, El Jaber appeared in an ad campaign against gender violence with Soledad Silveyra, Guillermina Valdés, and Laura Natalia Esquivel. She also played María in the 2024 film The Penguin Lessons and called working with Jonathan Pryce and Steve Coogan a "dream come true."
Personal life
El Jaber has one daughter, Calia. She has had three major relationships in her life, each lasting seven years, with only one leading to marriage when she was age 21. She is a longtime resident of Villa Devoto and has a home in Miramar, where she has a painting studio.Awards
In addition to the awards below, El Jaber was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Hugo Awards in 2019 for La llamada.| Year | Award | Awarding body | Awarded for | Refs |
| 1991 | Bienal Arte Jóven award | City of Buenos Aires | F.E.A. | |
| 1991 | Female Revelation on TV | Sin Cortes magazine | Cha cha cha | |
| 1993 | Lápiz de Oro | Editorial Dossier | Cha cha cha | |
| 2005 | Best performance | El cuento del violin | ||
| 2007 | Martín Fierro Award | Asociación de Periodistas de la Televisión y Radiofonía Argentina | Patito Feo | |
| 2010 | ACE Award | Association of Latin Entertainment Critics | M - el imposter | |
| 2011 | Estrella de mar: Comedic actress | Municipality of General Pueyrredón | "M" El impostor | |
| 2012 | Estrella de mar: Comedic actress | Municipality of General Pueyrredón | El impostor apasionado | |
| 2013 | Martín Fierro Award: Best Supporting Actress | Asociación de Periodistas de la Televisión y Radiofonía Argentina | Farsantes |