Ramón Emilio "Raymond" Arrieta Vázquez (born March 26, 1965), is a Puerto Rican actor, comedian, host and philanthropist. Starting his career as a comedian in various local shows, Arrieta gained popularity in the 1990s when he hosted a string of successful comedy shows where he showcased his various characters and personifications. Since 2007, Arrieta has been hosting the mid-day variety show Día a Día, along with Dagmar. Arrieta is also a radio show host and a theater actor.
Arrieta has gained prominence for his philanthropic endeavors. After his friend and co-host, Dagmar, was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, Arrieta has performed a yearly charity walk around various parts of the island while also raising awareness. Because of his commitment to the cause, Arrieta has received numerous recognitions, including from the Senate of Puerto Rico.
Early years
Raymond Arrieta was born in Hato Rey, one of the main barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico. His parents were Ramón Arrieta and Carmín Vázquez. Arrieta went to school at the Academia Nuestra Señora de la Providencia. When he was in the third grade, Arrieta volunteered to play the part of "Ramoneta Cienfuegos", a character of popular Puerto Rican comedian Shorty Castro, in a school play. After that he continued to participate in many other plays at school, even organizing his own. One of the works he wrote and directed was Mundo Loco, which told a story about a war between fans of Salsa music and fans of Rock music. Arrieta has mentioned that José Miguel Agrelot has always been his main inspiration.
After Arrieta graduated from high school, he enrolled in the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón of San Juan, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Radio and Television Production in 1987. There, he also joined Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.
On one occasion, Arrieta and some friends visited the café theater "El Punto del Coquí" located in Old San Juan. He sat down and played the piano while doing imitations. The owner of the club was impressed and asked Arrieta to prepare an act for his club. Arrieta prepared an act called "Black and White" which was a success and he was soon traveling around the island with his "show". In 1983, Our Lady of the Providence Academy established the "Raymond Arrieta Award" which is annually awarded to the student with the best artistic qualities.
Career as a comedian
In 1988, Arrieta already had his own radio show and was also participating in Telemundo's "Estudio Alegre" (Happy Studio);"El Show del Medio Día" (The Noon Show) for WAPA among others. He landed a role in the Spanish version of the play "The Diary of Anne Frank". The first attempt failed to become established and in 1977, the corporation was acquired by Cable TV of Greater San Juan. Following the first attempt by Sunshine Logroño's Sunshine Café which received the support if advertisers shows like Raymond Arrieta's ¡Que Vacilón! and El show de Raymond followed the same pattern.
Arrieta had his own weekly TV show in Puerto Rico called "El Show de Raymond". Which was transmitted through Televicentro and WAPA TV. In 2007 he switched to Telemundo and WKAQ-TV, where he currently stars in his own daytime daily show, "Día a Día con Raymond y Dagmar". Puerto Rican comedian, José Miguel Agrelot once said, that Raymond Arrieta was the greatest comedian of the "new" generation.
In 2014, Raymond returned to comedy television with the WKAQ-TV sketch comedy "Raymond y sus Amigos", which also reunites him with "Que Vacilon" cast members Monclova and Castro.
Da Vida Caminando con Raymond (Walk-A-Thon)
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On Friday, May 15, 2009, Arrieta began a Walk-A-Thon to raise funds for cancer patients in Puerto Rican institutions, the city of Ponce to San Juan arriving in Telemundo Puerto Rico. The Walk-A-Thon which ended on May 19, 2009. This hike was named the 2nd Hike Ramón Rivero "Diplo," the first man to hold a walka-a-thon in the world to raise funds for a cause, in 1953—for the Oncological Hospital, in San Juan.
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| El Beberazi|| Infant Reporter (Radio Only)
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| Dra. Apolo|| Ana María Polo parody
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| Tato Collazo|| Family man (Los Collazo)
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| Juan Armau|| Juan Dalmau parody
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| Piru|| Mail clerk
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| Lorenzano El Contable|| Accountant
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Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
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|1995–2001 ||Lente Loco||Host||TV show
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|1990–1992||Al Aire Libre||Host|| TV show
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|1992–1995||Que Vacilón||Host|| TV show
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|1996–1998||La Epidemia de la Risa||Host|| TV show
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|1997||Quiero ser Estrella||Host|| TV show
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|1998–2005||El Show de Raymond|| Host||TV show
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|2004||El Sueño del Regreso||Flight attendant||Movie
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|2007–present||Día a Día con Raymond y Dagmar||Host||TV show
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|2014–present||Raymond y sus Amigos||Host||Sketch comedy and variety show
|}
Source
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of television presenters/Puerto Rico
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
- Popular Culture
- Spanish Biography of Raymond