Gata Salvaje

Gata Salvaje
Format	Telenovela
Created by	Alberto Gómez
Written by	Omaira Rivero
Directed by	Yaky Ortega Freddy Trujillo
Starring	Marlene Favela Mario Cimarro
Theme music composer	C. Salazar A. Possc
Opening theme	Gata Salvaje by Pablo Montero
Ending theme	Gata Salvaje by Pablo Montero
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	Spanish
No. of episodes	250
Production
Executive producer(s)	Alfredo Schwarz
Producer(s)	Gemma Lombardi
Editor(s)	Alfonso González
Cinematography	Eduardo Dávila Reinaldo Figueira
Running time	45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Venevisión
Original run	May 16, 2002 – May 2, 2003
Chronology
Preceded by	Secreto de amor
Followed by	Rebeca
External links
Website

Gata Salvaje (Wild Cat) is a telenovela which aired first on Venevisión in Venezuela on May 16, 2002 and some days later was released on the Spanish station Univision from mid-summer of 2002 until May 2003, and later aired in Mexico on El Canal De Las Estrellas from January 2003 to December 2003. It starred, Mexican actress Marlene Favela and Cuban heatthrob Mario Cimarro.

This telenovela marked a milestone in the history of Spanish television, for it became the first and to date the only telenovela ever to be filmed in the United States and later released in Mexico, in contrast to the original process in which they are filmed in Mexico and then later are released in the United States. Also, this is one of two telenovelas starring Marlene Favela and Mario Cimarro as the main protagonists, the other being Los Herederos Del Monte, airing in Telemundo from 2011.

Plot

Gata Salvaje tells the story of Rosaura Rios, a beautiful and kind young woman who lost her mother and who lives with her drunkard father Anselmo, her sister Mayrita, her stepmother Maria Julia and her two children, Karina and Ivan. She has no choice but to work day as the lunch girl picking up food from the workers in the Arismendi's land, and night as a bartender in a nightclub to be able to sustain her family who lives in a small house next to the fabulous ranch of the wealthy Arismendi family. She lost the house due to the hurricane in Tampa

Luis Mario Arismendi is an educated and handsome young man, heir to the family fortune, who loses his wife, Camelia, in an accident at sea, and she is never recovered. This event keeps him in a sentimental limbo for quite some time. But before that both they were together enjoying their honeymoon while Patricio,Camelia's former lover called to threaten her that if she refuses to leave Luis Mario, he would tell him that he and Camelia are lovers and he is the only one who gives the life that she desires for. But Camelia decided to leave Luis Mario forever to escape with him.

Luis Mario decides to return from New York to take over the family business – the ranch – which is not in good financial standing. As he returns, the small plane in which he travels suffers an accident very close by to the ranch. Rosaura, who is in the area, reaches him and rescues him. Luis Mario instinctively kisses Rosaura and both slowly fell in love. But when they got married Eva kisses him in the mouth Rosaura who reacts by scratching him on the face, thus getting the name of "Wild Cat".

Eduarda, Luis Mario's sister, is determined to see Luis Mario married to Eva Granados, a beautiful but impulsive and demanding rich girl that will guarantee that they will not be financially ruined; but Luis Mario, in order to go against his sister, marries Rosaura, who is deeply in love him although he doesn't share the same feelings.

Eduarda and Eva makes Rosaura and Luis Mario's life miserable and finally they manage to break their marriage.

Now Rosaura alone, penniless and sad begins a new life. But her luck is about to change when she finds out that she is the only descendant of Dona Cruz Olivares, a powerful and wealthy old lady who wants to find her granddaughter before she passes away.

Rosaura becomes a sophisticated lady that will use her fortune to ruin all of those who harmed her in the past, and surely enough she does, including Luis Mario.

Rosaura, the "Wild Cat", one day realizes that her transformation has turned her into a bitter and heartless woman, and she comes to understand that the love she feels for Luis Mario is unbreakable, and that aside from all the things she did to the Arismendi family, she passionately loves him. Finally they will both be able to conquer the happiness that long time ago escaped them.

Phenomenon in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, the soap attracted a very wide audience, which negatively affected the already weak local shows broadcasting in the island. The soap went on air on Univision PR at the same hours that Telemundo aired some of the last local shows including El Gran Bejuco, Minga y Petraca, Wilson Wilson, Mi Familia and others. Because the ratings went down with these shows, Telemundo decided to finally take them out of the air, and thus a new era of foreign programming began in Telemundo. A few local shows still remained until a few years later.

Criticism

The soap opera has been criticized world-wide, mostly due to Favela's crying in almost every episode, the poor plot, and overall bad acting by most of the cast.

Cast

• Marlene Favela as Rosaura Ríos - Main heroine, in love with Luis Mario
• Mario Cimarro as Luis Mario Arismendi - Main hero, in love with Rosaura
• Carolina Tejera as Eva Granados † - Daughter of Rafael, in love with Luis Mario, main villain, (Killed by crocodiles)
• Ariel López Padilla as Patricio Rivera † - lover of Camelia, eventually falls deeply in love with Rosaura, villain, but finally good
• Marjorie de Sousa as Camelia Valente - Wife of Luis Mario, lover of Patricio, villain
• Mara Croatto as Eduarda Arismendi † - Sister of Luis Mario, killed Rosaura's father, accidentallly kills Rafael by poisoning him, and Caridad (the cook) by her them with a car and ironically is killed the same way, villain.
• Sergio Catalan as Gabriel Valencia - Friend of Luis Mario
• Adamari López as Karina Rios - Sister of Rosaura
• Ana Karina Casanova as Luisana Montero - Cousin of Luis Mario, in love with him
• Frances Ondiviela as Maria Julia Rodriguez - Stepmother of Rosaura
• Fernando Carrera as Rafael Granados † - Father of Eva and Silvia, in love with Rosaura (Dies from a heart attack after being poisoned by Eduarda)
• Julio Alcazar as Anselmo Rios † - Father of Rosaura (Killed by Eduarda and Eva)
• Liliana Rodriguez as Panchita Lopez - Servant at the Arismendi mansion
• Norma Zúñiga as Caridad Montes - Aunt of Bruno, servant at the Arismendi mansion
• Marisela Buitriago as Claudia Olivares - Daughter of Dona Cruz
• Juan A. Baptista as Bruno Villalta - Nephew of Caridad, in love with Rosaura
• Hada Bejar as Dona Cruz Olivares - Grandmother of Rosaura
• Sandro Finoglio as Maximiliano "Max" Robles † - In love with Rosaura (Drowned)
• Ismael La Rosa as Ivan Rios - Brother of Rosaura, in love with Jimena
• Sandra Itzel as Mayrita Rios - Sister of Rosaura
• Silvana Arias as Jimena Arismendi - Sister of Luis Mario, in love with Ivan
• Virna Flores as Minerva Palacios - Masseuse at Rosaura's spa, in love with Gabriel then marries Maximiliano
• Cesar Roman as Imanol Lander - friend of Ivan, Roasaura's brother
• Carlos Cuervo as Fernando Islas - lives with Caridad and Bruno, ex husband of Silvia, later falls in love with Luisana
• Yoly Dominguez as Valeria Montemar - Friend of Eva
• Charlie Massó as Rodrigo Valencia - Singer, in love with Karina
• Julio Capote as Samuel Tejar = butler at Olivares mansion
• Jose Val as Abel Tapia
• Angie Russian as Laurita Montemar
• Jessica Cerezo as Silvia Granados - Daughter of Rafael
• Dayana Garroz as Wendy Torres
• Pilar Hurtado as Martha Acuna- maid at the Granados' house
• Silvestre Ramos as Julio Aldama † (Killed by Karina)
• Luisa Castro as Griselda Ortiz - Servant at the Olivares mansion
• Ágatha Morazzani as Charito Lander - friend of Jimena
• Osvaldo Ríos as Silvano Santana Castro - In love with Rosaura
• Aura Cristina Geithner as Maribella Tovar † - In love with Luis Mario, villain (Killed by Eva)

External links

• Gata Salvaje at the Internet Movie Database