Eddie Miró

Eddie Miró (born 1936 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), is a television show host in Puerto Rico. He is best known for being the host of Telemundo Puerto Rico's variety show "El Show de las 12" ("The 12 PM Show") for over 40 years. Like Dick Clark in the United States, Miró is known for longevity in front of the cameras while aging relatively little physically.

During the long television run of "El Show de las 12", he came into contact with many famous entertainers, both local and foreign. Some of the local celebrities he worked with as co-hosts and guest stars, were 'Luis Antonio Cosme', Awilda Carbia, Angela Meyer, Otilio Warrington, Dagmar, Lou Briel, the members of El Gran Combo, Machuchal and others. Foreign acts that he presented included Raphael, Celia Cruz, Julio Iglesias, Rocio Jurado, Sandro de America, 'Marylin Pupo' (who resides in Puerto Rico but is Cuban), Jose Luis Rodriguez "El Puma", and many others.

In Puerto Rico's competitive television market, Miró outlasted rival hosts Luis Vigoreaux and his son Luisito of WAPA-TV, and, later on, Televicentro competition such and Luis Antonio Rivera ("Yoyo Boing"), who were among the of hosts of "El Show de las 12"'s main competitor, "El Show del Mediodia" ("The Midday Show"). It should be mentioned that Eddie Miró outlasted Luis Vigoreaux in part because of Vigoreaux's murder in 1983.

Early career

Miró grew up in the Santurce area of San Juan. In 1953, he graduated from high school as one of the "most likely to succeed" students (his school picked more than one student for that title; Miró was chosen in the entertainment area).

Miró began in the entertainment business as a singer, writer and comedian. His big break in the entertainment business came in 1964, when the actor turned television producer Paquito Cordero offered him a job as the host of "El Show de las 12", a new program that was about to begin at Telemundo, then known as "Telemundo channel 2". "El Show de las 12"s first broadcast was in January of 1965.

He was a teen idol across Puerto Rico for the next few years. He utilized his abilities as a comic during the show as well, mixing them with his work as show host. His style also gained him acclaim among Puerto Rico's television critics.

Other shows

Miró expanded his career as a show host during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, hosting shows produced by Paquito Cordero, such as Noche de Gala, (Gala Night Ball), "Salsa, Sabado en la Noche" ("Salsa, Saturday at Night"), and "Adelante Juventud" ("Come Forward, Youth!"). He also worked with hosts such as, Marisol Malaret, and Deborah Carthy-Deu, among others.

During the 1980s, "El Show de las 12"s opening consisted of a cartoon version of Eddie Miró dancing salsa and smiling. In 1989, the show included a section in which he shared gossip with Kobbo Santarrosa's doll, "La Condesa del Bochinche" ("The Countess of Gossip"), a doll which preluded Santarrosa's current doll, "La Comay".

Family

Miró's daughters, Dana, Michele Miró, and Christie Miró, went on to have careers in the entertainment business as actresses and show hosts. Perhaps ironically, Dana married Luisito Vigoreaux during the 1990s, linking Miró with the family of his old competitor, Luis Vigoreaux.

Eddie Miro is half-brother to Monserrate (Monsita) Matias Miró, who resides in Orlando, Florida with her two older children, nephew, Francisco Matias Jr. and niece, Judith Damaris Matias.Both Eddie and Monsita are children of Jose Miró Sauri.

Illness and Tax Problems

In 2003, Eddie Miró was diagnosed with colon cancer. He refused to take time off work, keeping on his daily schedule of hosting "El Show de las 12" even as he had cancer.

Miró, Rafael Hernandez Colon's daughter, and Raymond Dalmau became spokespersons for the testing and prevention of colon cancer in Puerto Rico once Miró announced his recovery.

On January, 2005, shortly after celebrating forty years of "El Show de las 12" on the air, Eddie Miró was told the show could not continue on longer, due in part to the changes in Telemundo Puerto Rico's production department. The usually-cool Miró went on a radio station and angrily declared that he was not rich, calling Telemundo Puerto Rico's producer Tony Mojena the station's "golden boy". He and his wife Juanita "Ita" Medina, a former dancer and choreographer, were later charged with tax evasion by the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury. After a plea bargain, Miró pleaded guilty of a minor tax evasion charge in early 2008, while given the chance to pay his tax debt and associated fines.

ee also

*List of famous Puerto Ricans

External links

*es icon [http://www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua/A1953E018_Graduandos.jpgMiró as a youngster]