Lita Baron, a fiery and talented brunette, was born in Andalusia and moved to the United States in 1928. She began her career as a singer, dancer, and actress, performing under the stage name "Isabelita" with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra.
Isabelita's performances at the Mocambo and Ciro's night clubs on the Sunset Strip caught the attention of up-and-coming movie star Rory Calhoun, who would later become her husband. She was soon destined to appear in films, and her first few movies were billed under the name "Isabelita", typically playing the role of a south-of-the-border señorita.
Lita Baron, as she would later be known, mostly freelanced for smaller studios like Republic, Monogram, RKO, and PRC. She had exotic leads in a few films, including "Bomba on Panther Island" (1949) with Johnny Sheffield and "Savage Drums" (1951) opposite Sabu.
As a Latino actress, Lita was often typecast in westerns, playing roles such as a dance hall singer in "The Broken Star" (1956) and a female gunslinger in "Jesse James' Women" (1954). She also guest-starred several times on her husband's hit CBS-Desilu series "The Texan" (1958).
In addition to her film work, Lita had a memorable guest role as Cuban bombshell Renita Perez, Ricky Ricardo's ex-dance partner, in a 1952 episode of "I Love Lucy" (1951).
After her screen career slowed down, Lita continued to perform on the nightclub circuit, co-hosting "Latin Cruise" on KTLA local television from 1949. This pioneering weekly musical variety show showcased Latin tunes and ran for several years.
In the 1970s, Lita moderated a popular radio program, "Lunch with Lita", broadcast from the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, featuring interviews with stars from her Hollywood past. When the show ended, she found a new vocation in real estate marketing.
