María Cecilia Botero Cadavid (Medellín, Colombia, May 13, 1955 ) is a Colombian actress, presenter and journalist.^[1]

Botero studied anthropology before she became an actress.

Daughter of Jaime Botero Gomez and the niece of Dora Cadavid, she is known for her role in The Ghost of Canterville (1971), alongside Carlos Benjumea, Maruja Toro, Enrique Pontón and Franky Linero. She replaced Mariela Hijuelos, who died during the recording of La Vorágine (1975) and went on to play "Manuela Saénz" in the series Bolívar, el hombre de las dificultades in 1981. Other roles include playing the characters "María Candia" in La Pezuña del Diablo (1983), and "Sándalo Daza" in Música maestro (1990). Her siblings Óscar Botero and Ana Cristina Botero are also actors.

Botero made her film debut starring in the film María, alongside Fernando Allende. She got her first role on television in 1971, in El fantasma de Canterville, and went on to act in Lunes de Comedia, La Vorágine, Caminos de Gloria, Lejos del Nido and Ama la Academia, among other. ^[2]

Botero's notable performances include portraying the character "Yadira la Ardiente" in from the soap opera Caballo viejo. In 2005, she was invited to be part of the soap opera Lorena, produced by RCN Televisión, where she played her first antagonistic role giving life to the evil "Rufina de Ferrero", where she radically changes her look and shows a great histrionic capacity.

Parallel to her career as a soap opera actress, Botero produced and starred in several musical comedies directed by her husband, Argentinean David Stivel (whom she married in 1982), who has since passed away. Her dream of popularizing musical theater in Colombia led her to produce such important productions as Peter Pan, Sugar and The Woman of the Year.

Botero also worked as a presenter, hosting the news program CM& and the talk show Las Tardes de Maria C. She presented the program Día a Día (Day by Day) on Caracol Televisión, along with Catalina Gómez and Agmeth Escaf.

Botero runs the Charlot Academy, an acting school created by her father, Jaime Botero.

She has a son, Mateo Stivel.