Ramón Rivero (Diplo)
| Ramón Rivero | |
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Ramón Rivero at the Stork Club, NYC
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| Born |
Arturo Ramón Máximo Ortiz del Rivero May 29, 1909 Naguabo, Puerto Rico |
| Died | August 24, 1956 (aged 47) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Other names | Diplo |
| Occupation | actor/comedian/composer |
| Years active | 1936–1956 |
| Height | 5'6" |
| Spouse(s) | Alicia Bibiloni (1949–1956) |
| Website | Official site |
 Ramon Rivero as "Diplo" in his "El Tremendo Hotel" (1953) on YouTube
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and in a television show sketch (1956) on YouTube
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Scene from "Los Peloteros" on YouTube
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and from "Una Gallega en la Habana" on YouTube
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Newsreel of Rivero in the world's first "Walk-A-Thon" on YouTube
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Ramón Rivero (May 29, 1909 – August 24, 1956) — known as Diplo — was a comedian, actor, composer and a pioneer in Puerto Rico's radio, television and cinema industries. Rivero is considered by Puerto Ricans a national hero and their greatest and most influential comedian.
Rivero (birth name: Arturo Ramón Máximo Ortiz del Rivero ) was born in the town of Naguabo, Puerto Rico to José Ortiz Alibrán and Providencia del Rivero. In 1917, his family moved to the Old San Juan section of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. There he received his primary and secondary education. As a young man he learned to play various musical instruments, among them the piano, the guitar and the mandolin, under the tutelage of Amelia Maestú y Jorge Rubiano. His father, who was a lawyer, sent him to Ontario, Canada to study law, however while he was in Canada, he learned to play baseball and received an offer to try out for the New York Giants major league team. He did not accept the offer and when he returned to Puerto Rico he joined the "Senadores de San Juan" (San Juan Senators) baseball club. Rivero married and found it difficult to sustain his family economically as a professional baseball player, therefore he moved with his family to the town of Cayey and worked as a physical education instructor at a local school.
In Cayey, he met and befriended Jose Luis Torregrosa, and joined Torregrosa's traveling theatrical company. Torregrosa became his best friend and later served as his comedy sidekick. Together they acted in the comedy "El proceso de Armando Líos", this experience convinced Rivero to pursue a career in comedy. After witnessing a comedy by Cuban comedian Leopoldo Fernández also known as "Tres Patines", Rivero adopted the idea of creating a comical "Afro-Puerto Rican" character. His inspiration for the character was someone he met during his youth years in San Juan called "Diplomacia", hence he named his character "Diplo". Together with Torregrosa, Rivero founded "La Farándula Bohemia", a theatrical company in which he was able to developed the character "Diplo" and make him known to the public. Rivero's father, asked him to change his name because another son was a priest, and having a comedian in the family ran against propriety. Rivero respected his fathers request and changed his name from Arturo Ramón Máximo Ortiz del Rivero to Ramón Rivero, plus he also added the nickname "Diplo." Among the local talents that Rivero and Torregrosa discovered was Juan Boria, a Puerto Rican poet who would become known for his poetry. In 1941, Boria was participating in a show in the town of Loíza. Rivero and Torregrosa, who were present, were so impressed with Boria's performance that they incorporated him into their .
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Wikipedia