Shorty Castro

Israel Castro Vélez, better known as Shorty Castro (born January 28, 1928 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican comedian, comedy writer, stage director, radio host, singer, dancer, composer and musician, with a career spanning over 60 years. He is regarded as one of the best stage directors in Puerto Rican comedy. Among others, Benicio del Toro and Raúl Juliá have acknowledged Castro as an influence. Coincidentally, Castro was nicknamed "Shorty" by baseball player Artie Wilson, who played for the Indios de Mayagüez of the Puerto Rico Baseball League. Castro (who measures 4 feet 11 inches tall), handled the team's uniforms at the time.

Castro was born in Mayagüez's Barrio La Quinta and raised at Barrio París, the same neighborhood that later produced singer Chucho Avellanet. Shorty's parents were Juan Castro Ayala and Victoria Vélez Cuevas. He is the second and oldest male child of twelve siblings. Since Shorty was short in stature, he claimed, he had to compensate by bringing attention to himself. He eventually developed the skills necessary to become an entertainer: good singing voice, talent as a percussionist, and good timing for comedy. While working full-time as a messenger for the municipality of Mayagüez, Castro held odd jobs in numerous local orchestras, mostly as a singer and percussionist. These orchestras included William Manzano's and Carlos López's (for both, Mon Rivera had also been a singer and percussionist; Mon was a close friend and lent arrangements for Castro's orchestras so often that show producers began to confuse the two singers), Mingo and His Whoopee Kids (for which Ruth Fernandez was a singer once) Charlie Miró y sus Pájaros Locos (which regularly had Eddie Miró as comic relief and master of ceremonies), and San Germán's Happy Hills' Orchestra (where Castro was a singer, percussionist and comic sketch performer -he toured New York City twice with the orchestra). He was also a co-founder of Roberto Ortiz's Orchestra.

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