Luis Cardei (1945–2000) was a
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
singer and actor known for his performance style.
Early years
Son of Catalina Fontanella -a dressmaker- and Luis Eduardo Cardei -an amateur singer- his health was always very frail due to
hemophilia. This condition was diagnosed in him at the age of 8. He underwent surgery several times, to the point that during some years he was not able to walk and, finally, he was able to walk only with a cane. As he could not participate in normal children's activities -soccer, playing outside with friends-, he filled those gaps by listening to the radio, and in particular to tango. He knew all the repertoires and could imitate any singer. Despite all his health issues, he had a very lively personality and, motivated by his friends, he signed up to several tango singing contests in the neighborhoods of
Chacarita,
La Paternal
La Paternal or Paternal ( en, The Paternal) is a ''neighborhood'' or district in the centre of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. It was founded in 1904 by a city decree (''decreto'') and was named 'La Paternal' after the train station in the neighbour ...
and
Villa Urquiza
Villa Urquiza is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between the barrios of Villa Pueyrredón, Belgrano, Villa Ortúzar, Coghlan, Saavedra and Agronomía. Its limits are the streets and avenues Constituyentes, ...
, but even though he was always very applauded, he never won. He had a handful of jobs, from taking bets -which he did during more than ten years- to salesman, while in parallel he continued to sing tango.
Discography
* De Madrugada (2002)
* Tangos de Ayer
Filmography
* La Nube (1997)
Sources
* http://www.abctango.com/notas/english/cardeing.html
* Clarín - Tango de Colección 17 - Luis Cardei
1945 births
2000 deaths
Tango singers
20th-century Argentine male singers
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