Dr. Rafael José Diaz (born April 22, 1955) is a Puerto Rican actor, singer and television host.

Biography

Early life

Rafael was born in Manatí,

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 his father, a physician born in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, was the medical director of the local hospital. His family eventually moved to Mayagüez in Western Puerto Rico where he grew up. While living in Mayagüez he sang and acted in various amateur radio and television broadcasts, as well as in high school talent shows. His reputation as a powerful singer followed him to

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

, while attending medical school. His family supported his singing career on the condition that he finished the

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...

program at the

University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine The University of Puerto Rico School of Dental Medicine is the dental school of the University of Puerto Rico. It is located on the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the only List of dental schoo ...

. He interrupted his studies for close to eight years when his singing career took off, but eventually finished his degree and became a dentist (although he rarely practices his profession nowadays).

OTI Festival

In 1978, he was selected 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 ...

to represent

in the seventh edition of the

OTI Festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

, which was held in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. His song entitled "Háblame" (Talk to me), which was warmly received by the audience and by the international jurors gave him the fourth place. In 1980, he won the ninth edition of the

Festival OTI OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, with his interpretation of the song ''Contigo Mujer'', which scored 36 points in the event and became an instant hit all over the Puerto Rican

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. The song was composed by singer

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studio ...

(Who had represented Puerto Rico in the same festival the previous year) and Laureano Brizuela. Another radio hit was "Yo Quiero Hacerte Olvidar", the theme song for the

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'' ...

"Martha Llorens".

New projects

He soon began acting on television in various

s and in 1983 became co-host of the Saturday night program ''A Millón'', along with

Héctor Marcano Héctor Marcano (born November 3, 1956) is a Puerto Rican producer, host, actor, and comedian. Marcano is also an owner of low-power television station WWXY-LD Channel 38. Hector Marcano currently serves as Vice President of Hispanic Operation ...

and Sonia Noemí on

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 ...

. He proved to be a talented TV host and lasted there for various seasons. During this time, he and his then wife, actress

Magali Carrasquillo Magali Carrasquillo (born on a January 17) is a Puerto Rican film and television actress. She is also a teacher, television producer and cultural manager. During the 1980s, she was known for her participation in many telenovelas in her island-count ...

, had a son, Juan Pablo. In 1986, he joined

Roberto Vigoreaux Roberto Vigoreaux Lorenzana (born January 12, 1956, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican producer, TV show host, actor, singer, and former Senator. He is the son of TV producer Luis Vigoreaux, and the younger brother of Luisito Vigore ...

in hosting another WAPA-TV game show, ''Sabado En Grande'', when ''A Millón'' was moved to Sunday nights. During this time, he also performed with Antonio Sánchez in the hit sitcoms ''

El Cuartel de la Risa ''El Cuartel de la Risa'' was a Puerto Rican comedy show broadcast on WSTE. It was one of the most successful comedy shows during its run. The show revolved around what happened in a generic police station in the fictional town of Trujillo Ba ...

'' and ''Adultos Solteros''. In the late 90s, he was hired as a television host by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

in Miami, Florida. José then became a recognizable face with

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

audiences in the United States with the movie showcase program ''Tu Pelicula''. Later on he joined the morning show '' ¡Despierta América!'', along with

Fernando Arau Fernando Arau (born November 3, 1953) is a Mexican comedian, actor, producer and director. He is best known for his TV roles, as Chicho in Televisa's hugely successful comedy " Cachun Cachun Ra Ra" (1981–1987) and Univision's daily morning sho ...

Ana María Canseco Rocío Ana Maria Canseco (born September 5, 1967) is a Mexican television personality living in the United States. Canseco is the co-host of the Univision morning talk show, ''Despierta América''. She also served as a guest host on the network's ...

, Neyda Sandoval and fellow Puerto Rican Giselle Blondet. In 1998, Jose covered the

1998 Fifa World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

as a commentator for Univision. In 2005, he started hosting Univision-Puerto Rico's successful night show

Anda Pa'l Cara Anda or ANDA may refer to: Places China *Anda, Heilongjiang, a city in Heilongjiang, China *Anda railway station, a railway station in Anda, China Iran *Anda, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran Norway *Anda, Norway, an island in Øksnes mun ...

. At present, he is a co-host of the night program "Que Noche" on WIPR-TV in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. In 2013 he starred in the Puerto Rican premiere of Jerry Herman's La Cage Aux Folles as Albin/Zaza, opening in August 2013 at the Luis A Ferré Performing Arts Center in San Juan. As of 2018, Jose is one of the show hosts and television reporters of variety show '' Lo Se Todo''. His work there has caused wide reactions by the general public, including an open letter by a viewer that went viral on the internet, in which he was asked to leave the show.

References

External links

Fundacion Nacional para la Cultura Popular biography
*
Rafael José
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...