Luis Antonio Rivera a.k.a. "Yoyo Boing" (born April 9, 1930) is a Puerto Rican actor, comedian and television show host, who was also one of the pioneers of Puerto Rican television.

Early years

Rivera was born in

Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

and his parents moved to Santurce, a section of San Juan, from Humacao when he was only three years old. After receiving his primary education, Rivera attended the "Escuela Superior Central de Santurce" ( Central High School of Santurce). He found a part-time job at a local radio station which opened the doors to a new world for him.Rivera's bio entry on the Puerto Rican National Foundation for Popular Culture's website
/ref> Rivera became a member of the Drama Department of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. As a drama student, he participated in two of

René Marqués René Marqués (October 4, 1919 – March 22, 1979) was a Puerto Rican short story writer and playwright. Early years Marqués was born, raised and educated in the city of Arecibo. He developed an interest in writing at a young age and was p ...

' plays. Having a deep baritone voice he also became a radio presenter. His radio station dramatized comedy sketches, and one of the producers suggested dramatizing

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Jughead; the name "Yoyo" sounded close to "Jughead", and the "Boing" part was a gimmick Rivera developed for the character: a vocalized "boing" that he constantly repeated to fill in silence gaps during each episode. Ever since his Archie stint on Puerto Rican radio, Puerto Ricans rarely refer to Rivera using his real name, and usually refer to him by his by-now "nickname".

Pioneer in Puerto Rican television

1954 was the year that television was born in Puerto Rico. Rivera, together with

Tommy Muñiz Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez (4 February 1922 – 15 January 2009), better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner. He is considered to be one of the pioneerin ...

José Miguel Agrelot Giuseppe Michael Agrelot Vilá (April 21, 1927 – January 28, 2004), also known as José Miguel Agrelot or Don Cholito, was a Puerto Rican comedian, radio and television host. Biography Agrelot was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was the ...

and

Paquito Cordero Paquito Cordero (October 16, 1932 – June 30, 2009), was a pioneer of Puerto Rican television. He was also a comedian and a musical and television producer. Early years Cordero (birth name: Francisco Cordero Baez) was born to Francisco Co ...

was one of the first comedians in Puerto Rican television. In 1960, he starred. alongside

Norma Candal Norma Daniela Candal Penedo (April 10, 1927 – February 5, 2006), was a Puerto Rican actress and comedian who was best known for her role as Petunia on ''La criada malcriada''. Early years Norma Daniela Candal Penedo was born in 1927 in Fajard ...

(Petunia) in a television comedy called "''La Críada Malcríada''" (The Rude Maid). In the 1970s, Rivera starred in own

sit-com A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

called "''Mi Hippie Me Encanta''" (I'm Crazy about My Hippie) broadcast by

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...

. In the 1980s, Rivera starred in the situation comedies, "''Generaciones''", (Generations), with

Chayanne Elmer Figueroa Arce (born June 28, 1968), better known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 albums and sold over 50 million records worldwide, making him one of ...

, "''Los Suegros''" (The In-Laws) and later in a spin-off of that show called "''Los Suegros y Los Nietos''" (The In-Laws and the Grandchildren), broadcast by

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-language Independent station (North America), independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by :es:Hemisphere Media Group, Hemisphere Media Group, w ...

. Rivera was also the General Manager of radio stations WKBM-AM ("AM 81") and WORO-FM ("Radio Oro", or Golden Radio), the radio branches of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Joannis Portoricensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, comprising the northeast portion of the island of ...

. Various media producers arranged for many Puerto Rican performers to tour New York City in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Rivera was one of these. As fate would have it, one particularly chilly evening Rivera and

Bobby Capó Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk elements and even Andalusi ...

were exiting a performance outside the ''

Teatro Puerto Rico The Teatro Puerto Rico was a music hall focused on the Latino community in the South Bronx section of New York City. During the 1940s to 1950s it presented ''la farándula,'' a vaudeville-style package of Spanish-language events, and attracted ...

'' and were looking for a place to eat. While waiting for public transportation, Rivera told Bobby Capó two jokes. These two jokes, reinterpreted by Capó and set to music, became two major musical hits: ''"El Negro Bembón"'', for

Rafael Cortijo Rafael Antonio Cortijo (December 11, 1928 – October 3, 1982) was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, composer and percussion instrument craftsman. Early Career As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and enjoyed th ...

and his Combo (sung by

Ismael Rivera Ismael Rivera a.k.a. "Maelo" (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987), was a Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer. Early life Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the first of five children born to ...

), and ''"El Caballo Pelotero"'', a smash hit for

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it was often considered Puerto Rico's most successful musical group. The ...

(original version sung by Pellín Rodríguez). For years, Rivera co-hosted "El Show del Mediodia", a midday variety show, on WAPA-TV alongside

Luis Vigoreaux Luis Vigoreaux Rivera (April 12, 1928 – January 17, 1983) was a Puerto Rican radio and television show host, announcer, comedian and producer. Vigoreaux was considered a pioneer in the television business in Puerto Rico, and enjoyed success ...

. After Vigoreaux was murdered early in 1983, Rivera became the show's main host, position in which he performed for several years afterwards.

Later years

In the 1990s, Rivera wrote a book titled "A Reír Con Yoyo" (Let's Laugh with Yoyo) and donated all of the proceeds to an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

organization. He was also active in a television show called "''Desde Mi Pueblo''" ("From My Town") for

WIPR-TV WIPR-TV (channel 6) is a non-commercial educational public television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, owned by the '' Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública'' (English: Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation). While WIPR- ...

(San Juan's channel 6), where he would visit every town and city and show all of the interesting aspects of the featured place. His co-hosts on the program were

Deborah Carthy-Deu Deborah Fatima Carthy-Deu (born January 5, 1966) is a Puerto Rican actress, TV host and beauty queen. She was the second Puerto Rican Miss Universe Biography Early years Deborah Fatima Carthy-Deu was born on January 5, 1966, in the Santurce d ...

Maria Falcon Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

and

Tony Croatto Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

. After

's sudden death in 2004, the remaining co-hosts on Agrelot's long-running radio show ''"Tu Alegre Despertar"'', (Your Cheerful Wake-Up), Aurora Previdi and María Falcón, asked the radio audience to select a permanent replacement for Agrelot from a round of temporary co-hosts. Rivera won the assignment; given the wishes of Agrelot's family to achieve some closure, the program changed its name to ''"Contigo en el tapón"'' ("Along With You In The Traffic Jam") and changed its format slightly. Rivera remains as a popular co-host, filling Agrelot's considerably large shoes. He also hosts a daily program of Puerto Rican music classics at ''Allegro''

WIPR-FM WIPR-FM (91.3 FM, "Allegro 91.3") is a radio station broadcasting a classical format, but the station also broadcasts some NPR programs. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the station is currently owned by la Corporación de Puerto Rico para la ...

. Puerto Rican writer

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

wrote a performance novel using the Yoyo Boing nickname as a title with some punctuation added: "''

Yo-Yo Boing! ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) is a postmodern novel in English, Spanish, and Spanglish by Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. The cross-genre work is a structural hybrid of poetry, political philosophy, musical, manifesto, treatise, memoir, and dra ...

''". Featuring a tinted photo of Rivera with overimposed X-ray specs for the book's jacket, the comic bilingual novel has very little to do with Rivera himself, but does feature a dream sequence inspired by childhood memories of the roles he played. By the 2000s, Rivera was retired from television but making special appearances. He was the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the locally produced movie for television "'' Santa Clos es

Boricua Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...

''" (Santa Claus is Puerto Rican) which was telecast in Puerto Rico and the United States through Televicentro on December 20, 2004. Since the early 2010s Rivera, who celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2020 has been the host and producer of the popular radio talk show Tus Compañeros Del Tapón, a daily afternoon program on 940AM,

WIPR (AM) WIPR (940 AM) is a public, non-commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the station is owned by The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and is branded as WIPR 940 AM. WIPR's audio sign ...

. In 2020, Rivera suffered a stroke. A successful fundraiser was organized by a local journalist to provide Rivera with a power

wheelchair lift A wheelchair lift, also known as a platform lift, or vertical platform lift, is a fully powered device designed to raise a wheelchair and its occupant in order to overcome a step or similar vertical barrier. Wheelchair lifts can be installed in ...

References

External links

Rivera's bio entry on the Puerto Rican National Foundation for Popular Culture's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Luis Antonio 1930 births Living people American television talk show hosts People from Humacao, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican comedians Puerto Rican male stage actors Puerto Rican male television actors Puerto Rican radio personalities Puerto Rican television personalities Television pioneers

Early years

Pioneer in Puerto Rican television

Later years

See also

References

External links