Rolando Barral
| Rolando Barral | |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 June 1939 Havana, Cuba |
| Died | 21 January 2002 (aged 62) Miami, Florida, United States |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Occupation | Actor and television presenter |
| Years active | 1950–1991 |
| Notable credit(s) | Sábado Gigante (co-host; 1986–1987) |
Rolando Barral (27 June 1939 – 21 January 2002) was a Cuban actor, television presenter and radio host. He appeared in dozens of telenovelas and television series for more than 40 years. He was the host of the long-running talk show El Show de Rolando Barral, the first Spanish-language talk show in American television. He was often called "the Latino Johnny Carson".
Barral, son of Mario Barral, a screenwriter and television director on Cuba, begin his career at age of 9 in Havana in a local radio program. In 1957 he became co-host of Partying with the Heartthrobs, a program which aired on CMQ for five years.
In 1962 Barral started his acting career, appearing in several telenovelas and films produced in through Spain, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and El Salvador. Most notable credits include Mi apellido es Valdez (1957), La otra mujer (1980), Toda una vida (1981) and Guaguasi (1983).
In 1978 Barral debuted as television host of long-running talk show El Show de Rolando Barral on WLTV Channel 23, then an affiliate of the Spanish International Network (the predecessor of Univision). In June 1985 the program briefly moved to competitor WSCV (then an independent station), before being lured back five months later.
Barral is perhaps best remembered as co-host of Univision's long-running variety show Sábado Gigante from May 1986 to January 1987, when he abruptly moved back to WSCV (which then became a Telemundo affiliate), where he hosted Super Sábado. In September 1987 he moved back to Channel 23, with Lunes y Viernes with Barral (Mondays and Fridays with Barral).
On January 22, 1988 Univision canceled the talk show following Barral's arrest by Coral Gables police on cocaine possession and driving while intoxicated charges. He was fined $964 for the DWI conviction and given a one-year probation for the drug conviction. He returned to airwaves two months later as radio host of El Show on WSUA. Since then he was constantly active as host of TV with Barral on local cable station Hit TV.
Rolando Barral died on 21 January 2002 due to a stroke.
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