Nobel Vega (born August 21, 1930) better known as Tio Nobel (Uncle Nobel) is a Cuban actor and children's television personality. Vega is mostly remembered for his character as a boat captain who appeared on

WKAQ-TV WKAQ-TV (channel 2) is a television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, airing programming from the Telemundo and NBC networks. It is owned and operated by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. WKAQ-TV's studios are located on ...

's "El Show del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Show"), a daily children's game show he hosted in which children played for prices, usually

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

branded toys. His show competed with Spaniard Pacheco's "Cine Recreo", shown on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by Hemisphere Media Group, which is 84% owned by InterMedia Partners. WAPA-TV's studios are located on Avenida Luis Vigoreaux in ...

, Telemundo Puerto Rico's rival television station.

Biography

Vega became an actor in his native Cuba and he participated in various films before, after the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

, he, like many other Cuban nationals of the era, left his country. He settled in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

where he found television work and fame, first playing

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

for young Puerto Rican audiences on WAPA-TV. Vega also participated in a

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ( ...

, 1969's Conciencia Culpable. Vega then moved to Telemundo Puerto Rico, where he starred as "Tio Nobel" for more than 20 years on the "Tio Nobel Show" as well as in "El Mundo Infantil del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Children's World") and "El Festival del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Festival"). In later years, he took his "Tio Nobel" character and moved to another Puerto Rican channel,

Tele Once WLII-DT (channel 11), branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the Territories of the United States#Permanently inhabited territories, U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. ...

Filmography

Vega has participated in three films, including one

Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Amer ...

. *"

La Justicia de Los Villalobos LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

" (1961, as "Machito") *" Aqui Estan Los Villalobos" (1962, also known as "La Justicia de Los Villalobos 2" and as "El Terror Blanco", as "Machito") *"

Calendar Pin-up Girls A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a ph ...

" (1966)

Later life

Vega moved from Puerto Rico during the later stages of his life and he currently resides in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Health issues

Vega in his older age has suffered a number of health issues, including having a brain stroke which left him with difficulty to speak, heart problems which lead to having a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

installed, several injuries and Alzheimer's disease.

Personal

Vega is married to his longtime wife, Nadine Zayas.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Nobel Living people 1930 births Cuban male actors Cuban children's television presenters Puerto Rican television personalities People from Miami Cuban emigrants to Puerto Rico