Tomás Domingo Muñiz Souffront (August 4, 1900 – September 9, 1963) was a well known 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 transmi ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

producer. He is sometimes respectfully called by the general public 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 ...

as ''Don Tomás'' Muñiz, to differentiate him from his namesake and son, Tommy Muñiz As a young man, Tomás Muñiz worked as a real estate agent, and later as an advertising copy writer -and later executive- of the ''West Indies Advertising Company (WIAC)''. He later produced radio shows and administered the agency's

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, WIAC-AM in San Juan. He was one of the first persons to give

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 ...

work. He also worked with a large number of other entertainers. His son, Lucas Tomás Muñiz, or Tommy Jr., later on became owner of Teleluz, a major competitor of

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 G ...

and Canal 2. Tomás Muñiz was the patriarch of a

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

family: one of his seven children,

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

, is a media legend in Puerto Rico, his grandson

Rafo Muñiz Rafael Muñiz García de la Noceda, better known as Rafo Muñiz (born 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor, comedian, director, and producer of television shows and concerts. The son of pioneering comic actor and producer Tommy Muñiz, Rafo's acting ...

, is also an actor and television producer and music promoter. Yet another grandson, Pedro Muñiz, starred as the father in the 1989 highly acclaimed television sitcom Maripili which he also produced (521 episodes), he is also a film producer. Son Tommy Muñiz Jr. also produced and starred in the only Puerto Rican film ever to be nominated for an Oscar, a 1989 film titled Lo que le Pasó a Santiago ("What happened to Santiago").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muniz, Tomas 1900 births 1965 deaths People from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican radio producers Puerto Rican television producers 20th-century American businesspeople

See also

References