Tony Croatto
Encyclopedia
Hermes Davide Fastino Croatto Martinis, better known as Tony Croatto (March 2, 1940, some sources state his year of birth as 1939 – April 3, 2005) was an Italian singer and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
best known for his interpretations of Puerto Rican folk music. He was also a television presenter
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
.
Biography
Born in AttimisAttimis
Attimis is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 70 km northwest of Trieste and about 14 km northeast of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,909 and an area of 33.3 km²...
, a comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the province of Udine
Udine
Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps , less than 40 km from the Slovenian border. Its population was 99,439 in 2009, and that of its urban area was 175,000.- History :Udine is the historical...
, Italy. Croatto's family moved to the border town of La Paz, Uruguay
La Paz, Uruguay
La Paz is a small city in the Canelones Department, southern Uruguay. It is located east of Route 5 on the border with Montevideo Department. It belongs to the wider Montevideo Metropolitan Area.- History :...
in the Canelones department
Canelones Department
The Canelones Department , with an area of and 485,240 inhabitants, is located to the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones.-Geography and climate:...
of Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
when he was 9 years old. While being raised as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
and farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
, music was very much a part of his household. In 1959, at 19, he created his first pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group with his brother Edelweiss (nicknamed "Tim") and his sister Argentina (nicknamed "Nelly") which was named "TNT
Los TNT
Los TNT were an Italian-Uruguayan rock 'n' roll band, popular in the sixties. The band consisted of two brothers and a sister from Udine, Italy: Edelweiss "Tim" Croatto , Hermes "Tony" Croatto , and Argentina "Nelly" Croatto . The acronym and word play "TNT" comes from their nicknames...
". The group came about at Nelly's insistence; since their mother frowned upon the idea of Nelly (who was 15 years old at the time and adamantly wanted to become a singer) touring solo, she would only allow her to sing in public with her brothers as a backup group. The group eventually developed a very strong following, first in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, then in Spain, where TNT moved as their popularity soared.
The TNT Years
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, their onstage chemistry and Nelly's voice and magnetic personality. At the time, Tony stated once, he was happy with just singing background and playing guitar, claiming he was rather shy. Eventually he developed a strong stage presence, which allowed him to take over vocal duties occasionally.
In 1960, TNT recorded a song, "Eso, eso, eso", written by tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
composers Virgilio and Homero Expósito, for RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, which sold more than 100,000 copies in that country alone. They were part of the first broadcast ever by Argentina's television station, Canal 9, their personal appearances were solidly attended, and their popularity ensured the success of a media campaign they did for the Argentine brewer
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, Cerveza Quilmes
Cerveza Quilmes
Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes is an Argentine Brewery founded in 1888 in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province, by Otto Bemberg, a German immigrant.The company quickly started growing and in the 1920s it was already the most popular beer in Buenos Aires. Since then, it has become something of a national...
. Their group was also popular in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Mexico, to where they eventually toured to. Their LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
records for RCA were fast sellers all over Latin America. They even appeared in a movie, "Fiebre de Juventud", along with Mexican pop idol Enrique Guzmán
Enrique Guzmán
Enrique Guzmán is a Mexican singer. He is the father of Mexican singer Alejandra Guzmán by his former wife, actress and politician Silvia Pinal....
, in 1962.
After attaining some success in Spain, TNT moved there in 1963. They went as far as representing the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964
Eurovision Song Contest 1964
The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the ninth Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark after the Danish victory the previous year. Sweden did not participate because of a boycott by singers. They did however broadcast it...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, billed as "Nelly, Tim and Tony". Tony stated once that the group took was handpicked by the powers that be behind TVE, the Spanish state television, to substitute that year's winners in the Spanish classification round, Michel and Teresa María, popular Spanish singers of the time. TVE toned down their normally dynamic act for the contest, in which they sang what was originally a slow ballad, "Caracola" (written by Spanish songwriter Fina de Calderón). Tony and his brothers suspected that this was a disaster waiting to happen. Disappointed by their twelfth-place in the competition, and the subsequent reaction in Spain, their willingness to tour and record there diminished with time. They moved back to Argentina in 1965. Tim eventually left the group in 1966 and returned to his native Italy to become a concert promoter.
Nelly and Tony's move to Puerto Rico
The music pairing of Nelly and Tony then became a duoDuet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
. In 1968, after travelling across South America and spending two years in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
(his then-wife Raquel Montero was an Argentine-born novela actress, whose good looks and dramatic talent were popular in the country; their mutual children Mara
Mara Croatto
-Early years:Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Croatto is the daughter of Argentine actress Raquel Montero and Italian-Uruguayan folk singer, Tony Croatto. Croatto's parents moved and resettled in Puerto Rico shortly after her birth. She was raised and educated in San Juan. When Croatto was 11 years...
and Alejandro Croatto were born there). Tony moved to what would eventually become his adoptive homeland, Puerto Rico
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...
, when "Nelly y Tony" were hired by Puerto Rican promoter Alfred D. Herger
Alfred D. Herger
Alfredo Domingo Herger is a famous former Puerto Rican television show host and a psychologist. He has been labeled the Ed Sullivan of Puerto Rico in local media, due to his strong influence in Puerto Rican pop culture and his success as a television presenter.-Early life:Herger, of Spanish and...
to his popular youth television shows. "Nelly y Tony" would perform together until 1974, when Nelly married a Puerto Rican surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
. She retired from pop music and eventually moved to the United States (she currently lives in Redlands, California
Redlands, California
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
).
While performing with his sister Nelly in New York's Teatro Puerto Rico in 1973, Tony was introduced to New York bred but Puerto Rico born vocalist Roberto Tirado who suggested that he compose a hit song for his idol Lucecita Benítez
Lucecita Benítez
Luz Esther Benítez , better known in the music world as Lucecita, is a Puerto Rican singer.-Biography:Lucecita was a member of what is historically known in Puerto Rico as the New Wave, or Nueva Ola of popular music, created by Alfred D. Herger, alongside Lissette and Chucho Avellanet, among others...
who was going through hard times in her career. Tony obliged and with poet David Ortiz wrote her number one career refreshing hit, "Soy De Una Raza Pura." That would be the only song that Lucecita Benítez would claim as her opening song for many years later on.
While he was almost as successful in Puerto Rico singing pop tunes with his sister as he was in other countries, Tony Croatto was very much impressed by Puerto Rican jibaro
Jíbaro
Jíbaro is a term from the Taíno words "jiba" and "ro", that means forest people, commonly used in Puerto Rico to refer to mountain-dwelling peasants, but in modern times it has gained a broader cultural meaning.-History:...
singers, who could improvise décima
Décima
A décima refers to a ten-line stanza of poetry, and the song form generally consists of forty-four lines...
s on the spot, something that reminded him of the payadores
Music of Argentina
The music of Argentina is known mostly for the tango, which developed in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay. Folk, pop and classical music are also popular, and Argentine artists like Mercedes Sosa and Atahualpa Yupanqui contributed greatly to the development of the...
of Uruguay and Argentina he used to listen to when he was growing up. He also found a richness in musical traditions in Puerto Rico that, he claimed, was extremely rare elsewhere in Latin America. He started singing Puerto Rican folk songs with Nelly, and noticed that their pop treatment of these songs was far more in demand that the pop material they would normally sing together. He was also well impressed by the Puerto Rican people, who -he claimed- treated him better in his first night in the island than what he had experienced touring extensively in a country or two. That, plus various personal reasons, persuaded him to stay in Puerto Rico for good; he even went as far as saying he was a "born again Puerto Rican." Montero also made Puerto Rico her permanent residence, even after divorcing Croatto later on.
The Haciendo Punto years
Croatto then formed Haciendo Punto en Otro SonHaciendo Punto en Otro Son
Haciendo Punto en Otro Son is a Nueva Trova band from Puerto Rico, founded in 1975. They recorded fourteen albums and performed in Latin America, the Caribbean and USA....
, a group famous for its songs (particularly protest songs), which were composed and arranged in the "Nueva Trova
Nueva trova
Nueva trova is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967/68 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes....
" tradition. He joined Puerto Rican singers Silverio Pérez
Silverio Pérez
Silverio Pérez is a musician, comedian, entrepreneur and broadcasting media host, born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He is known for several reasons, among them:* hosting several successful Puerto Rican television shows during his career....
, Josy LaTorre, Irvin García, and Nano Cabrera. "Haciendo Punto" was quite heterogeneous: Pérez's strength was in jíbaro music, LaTorre was a classically trained singer, Cabrera was a rocker and García was also a strong salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
percussionist and singer, but Croatto's vast experience with pop music (in the opinion of Pérez) made all the difference in the group's success. Croatto was instrumental in both the musical and technical aspects of the group, not only as singer, guitarist and keyboardist, but also as arranger, producer and studio technician. In fact, he founded a record label at the time, named Artomax, which was financed by local singer Chucho Avellanet
Chucho Avellanet
Armando Hipólito Avellanet González , nicknamed "Chucho" is a Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor...
and local producer Tomás Figueroa.
Tony goes solo
Most of the group members were strong supporters of Puerto Rican independence, at a moment when discrimination against "independentistas" was strong in the island. The group was boycotted at many public functions at the time by town mayors and politicians, and some of its members (most notably Pérez) were blacklisted. Croatto, who still considered himself a foreigner among Puerto Ricans at the time, amicably left the group, stating that he did not want the people of Puerto Rico, to whom he was extremely grateful for the warm reception they had given him and his family, argue or raise a controversy because of his music. He hinted at this at a spoken section of his first solo hit, "Yo habito una tierra luz" ("I inhabit a lighted land"). His first solo record, featuring both synthesizerSynthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s and Puerto Rican folk instruments, was well received by the public at large. Since then he was well regarded for his interpretations of Puerto Rican folk music, which spanned over thirty albums.
Croatto achieved considerable success in Puerto Rico by remaking old Puerto Rican standards such as the plena
Plena
Plena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
standard "La Máquina" ("The -Train's- Engine") and a medley of plenas by Cesar Concepcion
Cesar Concepcion
Cayetano César Concepción Martínez, , was a Puerto Rican musician and composer, who brought the music of his native land to Latin American ballroom dancing, and ballrooms all over the world...
, both rearranged as pop songs. Another large hit came from his adaptation of "El Cocuy Que Alumbra" ('The Firefly
Firefly
Lampyridae is a family of insects in the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce a "cold light", with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies...
That Shines') from the Venezuelan parranda
Parranda
Parranda or Parranda de aguinaldo is a musical form from the coastal area of the states Aragua and Carabobo in Venezuela where the tambora becomes present as the main accompanying instrument in an Afro-Venezuelan influence...
band Un Solo Pueblo, which was renamed "A Correr Sabana" once set to new lyrics written by renowned salsa composer Tite Curet Alonso
Tite Curet Alonso
Tite Curet Alonso was a renowned composer of over 2,000 salsa songs.- Early years :Born Catalino Curet Alonso in the southern town of Guayama in Puerto Rico. Alonso's mother was a seamtress and his father a Spanish teacher and musician in the band of Simon Madera...
. Curet and Croatto wrote another firefly song together, this time an original named Cucubano, which was even more successful (the song was also versioned by the Puerto Rican boy band
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
, Menudo
Menudo (band)
Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band that was formed in the 1970s by producer Edgardo Díaz, releasing their first album in 1977. The band achieved much success, especially during the 1980s, becoming the most popular Latin American teen musical group of the era....
).
In 1985, Croatto recorded another mega-hit: his song, El Niñito Jesus (aka "Se llama Jesús"), released during the Christmas season, which told about a poor and hungry child, named Jesus (a thinly veiled reference to the Christ child), with wornout pants, and no shoes, and who walked into a house of well doers begging for attention, while the people household rejected him, first euphemistically, then rather openly. This song has become a Christmas classic in Puerto Rico.
Croatto divorced from Montero and married former singer, actress (and later children television hostess) Glorivee in 1979. His son Hermes was born during his marriage to Glorivee. Croatto was a firm believer and devout Roman Catholic, although he could not participate fully in church rituals given his status as a divorced man. In part as a way to compensate for this and contribute to his faith he wrote a jíbaro mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
which gave him one of his latter hits, "Creo en Dios" ("I believe in God").
Croatto recorded musical versions of poems and lullabies written by Georgina Lázaro
Georgina Lázaro
Georgina Lázaro-Leon is a Puerto Rican poet whose work is focused on children. Her children poems have been recorded by many artists, among them Tony Croatto.-Early years:...
, a Puerto Rican poet whose works were mostly intended for children.
Glorivee had a bout with brain cancer, from which she successfully recovered. Croatto eventually divorced Glorivee and married Lillian Arroyo. He eventually moved to Carolina where he spent his later years.
"Desde Mi Pueblo"
Parallel to his singing career, Croatto also became a presenter on "Desde mi pueblo" ("From My Town"), a variety show / weekly documentary that aired weekly on WIPR-TVWIPR-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 ...
. His co-hosts were local comedian Luis Antonio Rivera (Yoyo Boing), the former Miss Universe 1985
Miss Universe 1985
Miss Universe 1985, the 34th Miss Universe pageant, was held at James L. Knight Convention Center, Miami, USA on July 15, 1985. Seventy-nine contestants competed in the 1985 Miss Universe Pageant...
, Deborah Carthy Deu and María Falcón. The program's concept involved traveling to a different municipality of Puerto Rico every week and highlighting all cultural aspects found in each town. Given the fact that Puerto Rico has 78 municipalities, there was enough material to show and research over the program's six-year run. Carthy is on record stating that Croatto was genuinely interested in researching each program carefully, and became far more knowledgeable about Puerto Rican culture than most of the program's producers, co-hosts and film crew. Because of his background as a farmer, Croatto was very much interested in local agricultural issues; he jumped at trying local folklore, particularly jíbaro music, bomba
Bomba
Bomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of floor drums, cuá and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: the dancers move their bodies to every beat of the drum, making bomba a very...
and plena
Plena
Plena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
variations that were unique to each town or region, "sometimes fearlessly", said Rivera once.
Achievements
Croatto's daughter, Mara CroattoMara Croatto
-Early years:Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Croatto is the daughter of Argentine actress Raquel Montero and Italian-Uruguayan folk singer, Tony Croatto. Croatto's parents moved and resettled in Puerto Rico shortly after her birth. She was raised and educated in San Juan. When Croatto was 11 years...
, born in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, is a famous actress, who considers herself Puerto Rican.
In 2000 the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico
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...
proclaimed him as its adoptive son. See proclamation.
Death and legacy
Croatto, a lifelong smoker, was diagnosed on March 2005 with lung and brain cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He refused medical treatment, opting for natural treatments instead. He expected his health to eventually improve, but probably was not aware on how sick he was, since his death came just three weeks after the announcement. Croatto dictated a letter published in local papers to notify of his illness and leave a message of gratitude to the people of Puerto Rico who adopted him as son and patriot.
After requesting to be released from the hospital to spend his last days with his family, Croatto died, on April 2, 2005. His fellow former Haciendo Punto bandmates had staged a benefit concert for him the night before, which was filmed for later release on a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. As a gift from them, the production company provided a live audio feed to what would become Croatto's deathbed, it has been stated that Croatto smiled when the band requested a standing ovation to him, just before losing consciousness for the last time. His funeral was held at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and he was given a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
. Thousands of Puerto Ricans paid their respects and later accompanied the funeral procession enroute to his burial in Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery
Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is a colonial-era cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents. Construction began in 1863 under the auspices of Ignacio Mascaro. The cemetery is located outside...
located in Old San Juan.
He will always be remembered of how he re-kindled and boost in Puerto Ricans the love for their country, their nature, and the "jíbaro" concept without political colors nor beliefs.
List of celebrities at Croatto's funeral
A large list of celebrities, mostly Puerto Ricans, attended Croatto's funeral.Here is a partial list of those celebrities that attended:
- Aníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Acevedo ViláAníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the eighth Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law,...
- Puerto Rican Governor - Axel AndersonAxel AndersonAxel Anderson is a German-born Puerto Rican actor.-Early life:Anderson was born Axel Levy to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. In 1936 Anderson's family escaped the Holocaust by emigrating to Paraguay. Due to political instability in Paraguay, Anderson's family soon moved to Argentina...
- actor - Antonio Cabán ValeAntonio Cabán ValeAntonio Cabán Vale a.k.a. "El Topo" , is a guitarist, singer and composer of Puerto Rican folklore themes. He is one of the founders of the "new song" movement of the early 1970s...
- singer - Nano CabreraNano CabreraNano Cabrera is a singer, guitarist, and composer born in Condado, Puerto Rico, who was a member of Haciendo Punto en Otro Son, the musical group that brought popularity to typical Puerto Rican music during the last quarter century...
- singer, former bandmate of Croatto - Magali Carrasquillo- actress
- Iris ChacónIris ChacónIris Chacón is a dancer, singer, and entertainer. She enjoys great popularity in Puerto Rico and in other Latin American countries, as well as such US locales as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.-Career:Chacon has been known by various nicknames, such as "La Bomba de Puerto Rico" Iris Chacón...
- actress - Mara CroattoMara Croatto-Early years:Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Croatto is the daughter of Argentine actress Raquel Montero and Italian-Uruguayan folk singer, Tony Croatto. Croatto's parents moved and resettled in Puerto Rico shortly after her birth. She was raised and educated in San Juan. When Croatto was 11 years...
- actress, Croatto's daughter - Juan Pablo Diaz- television personality, son of Magali Carrasquillo and Rafael JoséRafael JoséDr. Rafael José Diaz is a Puerto Rican television show host born in Manatí, Puerto Rico, where his father, a physician born in the Dominican Republic, was the medical director of the local hospital. His family eventually moved to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where he was raised...
- Quique Domenech- musician
- Luisa GándaraLuisa GándaraLuisa "Piti" Gándara is the wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and served as First Lady from 2005 to 2009.Following the tradition of previous Puerto Rico First Ladies, Gándara refrained from holding a remunerative job while a resident of La Fortaleza...
- Puerto Rico's first lady - Josy Latorre- singer, former bandmate of Croatto
- José Ángel LlamasJose Angel LlamasJosé Ángel Llamas Olmos is a Mexican actor best known for his roles of Rudolfo in Amor descarado. His striking good looks make him quite the heart throb among his many fans....
- actor (also husband of Mara Croatto) - Walter MercadoWalter MercadoWalter Mercado , is a Puerto Rican astrologer. Mercado announced that he and Univision have parted ways after fifteen years.-Early years:...
- astrologer, actor - Ismael MirandaIsmael MirandaIsmael Miranda a.k.a. El niño bonito de la Salsa is a composer and a singer of salsa music.-Early years:...
- singer - Silverio PérezSilverio PérezSilverio Pérez is a musician, comedian, entrepreneur and broadcasting media host, born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He is known for several reasons, among them:* hosting several successful Puerto Rican television shows during his career....
- comedian, director, producer and former Croatto bandmate - Danny RiveraDanny RiveraDanny Rivera is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who was born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well-known in Puerto Rico for his political activism.-Musical career:...
- singer - Paloma SuauPaloma SuauPaloma Suau is a Spanish–Puerto Rican film and video director, writer, editor and actress. Suau's father, Gabriel Suau, is a Spaniard who immigrated to Puerto Rico, where he became a well known television figure. Her mother is Camille Carrion, a well known Puerto Rican actress...
- director - Gabriel Suau- Spaniard actor, director
- Otilio WarringtonOtilio WarringtonOtilio Warrington, known popularly as Bizcocho is a comedian, best known for his roles of "Bizcocho" and "Cuca Gómez".-Early years:...
- comedian - Francisco ZamoraFrancisco ZamoraFrancisco Zamora Salinas 1939 – † April 8, 2002) was a famous football player from El Salvador. He retired in 1973.-External links:* http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20020408/deportes/dep12.asp...
- former television show host, producer - Sandra ZaiterSandra ZaiterSandra Zaiter is an actress, television children's show host, singer, composer and former athlete in Puerto Rico.Zaiter was born in the Dominican Republic, of Lebanese Maronite Christian ancestry. Early in her life she participated in church groups, and established her residence in Puerto Rico...
- children's show host
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican Songwriters
- Music of Puerto RicoMusic of Puerto RicoThe music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...