Luis Antonio Rivera
Encyclopedia
Luis Antonio Rivera a.k.a. "Yoyo Boing" (born April 9, 1930) is a comedian
, actor
and television show host, who was also one of the pioneers of Puerto Rican
television
.
and his parents moved to Santurce
, a section of San Juan, from Humacao when he was only three years old. After receiving his primary education, Rivera attended the "Escuela Superior Central de Santurce" (Central High School of Santurce). He found a part-time job at a local radio
station which opened the doors to a new world for him.
Rivera became a member of the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico
. As a drama
student, he participated in two of Rene Marques
' plays. Having a deep baritone voice he also became a radio presenter. His radio station dramatized comedy sketches, and one of the producers suggested dramatizing Archie comics
over the radio. Due to the lack of audiovisual references for the characters at the time, there were no clear cut ways of representing the characters in Spanish, nor there were exact translations for their names. Rivera came up with the name of Yoyo Boing for representing Jughead
; the name "Yoyo" sounded close to "Jughead," and the "Boing" part was a gimmick Rivera developed for the character: a vocalized "boing" that he constantly repeated to fill in silence gaps during each episode. Ever since his Archie stint on Puerto Rican radio, Puerto Ricans rarely refer to Rivera using his real name, and usually refer to him by his by-now "nickname".
, Jose Miguel Agrelot
and Paquito Cordero
was one of the first comedians in Puerto Rican television. In 1960, he starred. alongside Norma Candal
(Petunia) in a television comedy called "La Críada Malcríada" (The Rude Maid). In the 1970s, Rivera starred in own sit-com called "Mi Hippie Me Encanta" (I'm Crazy about My Hippie) broadcast by Telemundo
. In the 1980s, Rivera starred in the situation comedies, "Generaciones", (Generations), with Chayanne
, "Los Suegros" (The In-Laws) and later in a spin-off of that show called "Los Suegros y Los Nietos" (The In-Laws and the Grandchildren), broadcast by WAPA-TV
. Rivera was also the General Manager of radio stations WKBM-AM ("AM 81") and WORO-FM ("Radio Oro", or Golden Radio), the radio branches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan
.
organization. He was also active in a television show called "Desde Mi Pueblo" ("From My Town") for WIPR-TV
(San Juan's channel 6), where he would visit every town and city and show all of the interesting aspects of the featured place. His co-hosts on the program were Deborah Carthy-Deu
and Tony Croatto
.
After José Miguel Agrelot
's sudden death in 2004, the remaining co-hosts on Agrelot's long-running radio show "Tu Alegre Despertar", (Your Cheerful Wake-Up), Aurora Previdi and María Falcón, asked the radio audience to select a permanent replacement for Agrelot from a round of temporary co-hosts. Rivera won the assignment; given the wishes of Agrelot's family to achieve some closure, the program changed its name to "Contigo en el tapón" ("Along With You In The Traffic Jam") and changed its format slightly. Rivera remains as a popular co-host, filling Agrelot's considerably large shoes. He also hosts a daily program of Puerto Rican music classics at Allegro WIPR-FM
.
Puerto Rican writer Giannina Braschi
wrote a performance novel using the Yoyo Boing nickname as a title with some punctuation added: "Yo-Yo Boing!". Featuring a tinted photo of Rivera with overimposed X-ray specs for the book's jacket, the comic bilingual novel has very little to do with Rivera himself, but does feature a dream sequence inspired by childhood memories of the roles he played.
of the locally produced movie for television "Santa Clos
es Boricua" (Santa Claus is Puerto Rican) which was telecast in Puerto Rico and the United States
through Televicentro
on December 20, 2004.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and television show host, who was also one of the pioneers of Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Early years
Rivera was born in Humacao, Puerto RicoHumacao, Puerto Rico
Humacao is a city in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 10 wards and Humacao Pueblo...
and his parents moved to Santurce
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, a section of San Juan, from Humacao when he was only three years old. After receiving his primary education, Rivera attended the "Escuela Superior Central de Santurce" (Central High School of Santurce). He found a part-time job at a local radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station which opened the doors to a new world for him.
Rivera became a member of the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
. As a drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
student, he participated in two of Rene Marques
René Marques
René Marqués was a renowned Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright.-Early years:Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo...
' plays. Having a deep baritone voice he also became a radio presenter. His radio station dramatized comedy sketches, and one of the producers suggested dramatizing Archie comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
over the radio. Due to the lack of audiovisual references for the characters at the time, there were no clear cut ways of representing the characters in Spanish, nor there were exact translations for their names. Rivera came up with the name of Yoyo Boing for representing Jughead
Jughead Jones
Jughead Jones is a fictional character in Archie Comics who first appeared in the comic in December 1941. He is the son of Forsythe II; although in one of the early Archie newspaper comic strips, he himself is identified as Forsythe Van Jones II...
; the name "Yoyo" sounded close to "Jughead," and the "Boing" part was a gimmick Rivera developed for the character: a vocalized "boing" that he constantly repeated to fill in silence gaps during each episode. Ever since his Archie stint on Puerto Rican radio, Puerto Ricans rarely refer to Rivera using his real name, and usually refer to him by his by-now "nickname".
Pioneer in Puerto Rican television
1954 was the year that television was born in Puerto Rico. Rivera, together with Tommy MuñizTommy Muñiz
Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez , better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner...
, Jose Miguel Agrelot
José Miguel Agrelot
Giuseppe Michael Agrelot , better known as José Miguel Agrelot, was a comedian, radio and television host and media icon in Puerto Rico...
and Paquito Cordero
Paquito Cordero
Paquito Cordero , was a comedian and television producer and also one of the pioneers of Puerto Rican television.-Early years:...
was one of the first comedians in Puerto Rican television. In 1960, he starred. alongside Norma Candal
Norma Candal
Norma Candal , was an actress and comedian who was best known for her role as "Petunia".-Early years:Candal was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico and lived with her family in the Fajardo Sugar Co. sugar plantation where her father was an accountant...
(Petunia) in a television comedy called "La Críada Malcríada" (The Rude Maid). In the 1970s, Rivera starred in own sit-com called "Mi Hippie Me Encanta" (I'm Crazy about My Hippie) broadcast by Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
. In the 1980s, Rivera starred in the situation comedies, "Generaciones", (Generations), with Chayanne
Chayanne
Elmer Figueroa Arce , best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 solo-albums and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.-Early life:...
, "Los Suegros" (The In-Laws) and later in a spin-off of that show called "Los Suegros y Los Nietos" (The In-Laws and the Grandchildren), broadcast by WAPA-TV
WAPA-TV
WAPA-TV is an independent television station located in San Juan, Puerto Rico transmitting over digital channel 27, virtual channel 4. The station is owned by InterMedia Partners and is branded as WAPA Television....
. Rivera was also the General Manager of radio stations WKBM-AM ("AM 81") and WORO-FM ("Radio Oro", or Golden Radio), the radio branches of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, comprising the northeast portion of the island of Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States...
.
Later years
In the 1990s, Rivera wrote a book titled "A Reír Con Yoyo" (Let's Laugh with Yoyo) and donated all of the proceeds to an AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
organization. He was also active in a television show called "Desde Mi Pueblo" ("From My Town") for WIPR-TV
WIPR-TV
WIPR-TV is an non-commercial educational, full-power public television station located in San Juan, Puerto Rico transmitting over analog channel 6, digital 43. The station is owned and operated by Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública ...
(San Juan's channel 6), where he would visit every town and city and show all of the interesting aspects of the featured place. His co-hosts on the program were Deborah Carthy-Deu
Deborah Carthy-Deu
Deborah Fátima Carthy-Deu in Santurce, Puerto Rico. She became the second Miss Universe from Puerto Rico. The contest was held at James L. Knight Center of Miami, Florida on July 15, 1985.-Early years:...
and Tony Croatto
Tony Croatto
Hermes Davide Fastino Croatto Martinis, better known as Tony Croatto was an Italian singer and composer best known for his interpretations of Puerto Rican folk music. He was also a television presenter.-Biography:Born in Attimis, a comune in the province of Udine, Italy...
.
After José Miguel Agrelot
José Miguel Agrelot
Giuseppe Michael Agrelot , better known as José Miguel Agrelot, was a comedian, radio and television host and media icon in Puerto Rico...
's sudden death in 2004, the remaining co-hosts on Agrelot's long-running radio show "Tu Alegre Despertar", (Your Cheerful Wake-Up), Aurora Previdi and María Falcón, asked the radio audience to select a permanent replacement for Agrelot from a round of temporary co-hosts. Rivera won the assignment; given the wishes of Agrelot's family to achieve some closure, the program changed its name to "Contigo en el tapón" ("Along With You In The Traffic Jam") and changed its format slightly. Rivera remains as a popular co-host, filling Agrelot's considerably large shoes. He also hosts a daily program of Puerto Rican music classics at Allegro WIPR-FM
WIPR-FM
WIPR-FM is a radio station broadcasting a classical format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the station is currently owned by la Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública.-External links:*...
.
Puerto Rican writer Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi
Giannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
wrote a performance novel using the Yoyo Boing nickname as a title with some punctuation added: "Yo-Yo Boing!". Featuring a tinted photo of Rivera with overimposed X-ray specs for the book's jacket, the comic bilingual novel has very little to do with Rivera himself, but does feature a dream sequence inspired by childhood memories of the roles he played.
2000s
Rivera is currently retired from television but, at times makes special appearances. He was the protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the locally produced movie for television "Santa Clos
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
es Boricua" (Santa Claus is Puerto Rican) which was telecast in Puerto Rico and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
through Televicentro
Televicentro
Televicentro may refer to the following:*Televicentro 4 Former name of WAPA-TV, a television station in Puerto Rico*Televicentro , a television station in Honduras*Televicentro , a television station in Nicaragua...
on December 20, 2004.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Giannina BraschiGiannina BraschiGiannina Braschi is a Puerto Rican writer. She is credited with writing the first Spanglish novel YO-YO BOING! and the poetry trilogy Empire of Dreams , which chronicles the Latin American immigrant's experiences in the United States...
, author of "Yo-Yo Boing!", the novel.