José Vega Santana, known by his stage name "Remi" (born February 28, 1958) is a singer and

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. His career as a clown, spanning over 35 years, began with the group "Los Dulces Payasos" ("The Sweet Clowns") after developing the character of Remi while a student at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...

. He's one of the most famed clowns in Puerto Rico.

Family life

Vega is married to Bettina Mercado, president of Bettina Cosmetics. He has a daughter from a previous marriage to Marina Berti, Marina Vega Berti who participated in Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013 as Miss Luquillo.

Early years

Vega was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, his mother was the lead singer in "Googie Santana" and his grandfather was former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player Pepe Santana. Ever since he was young, Vega knew that he wanted to be an entertainer. He started as a radio music programmer and announcer. Later, he joined the dance and theater company of María Teresa Miranda.Haciendo Punto en Otro Son
/ref> In the mid-1970s, Vega was a

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

student in the

. During that time he also took painting classes in the School of Plastic Arts in San Juan. It is there that he, together with some other students decided to form an "Artisans Market" at the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. The purpose of the "Market" was to give painting classes to young children, and on one occasion they dressed up as clowns. This was when Vega developed and created the character of "Remi". They became so popular that they decided to form a group and call themselves ''Los Dulces Payasos'' (The Sweet Clowns).

Remi the clown

In 1983, Vega and the group received an offer from local T.V. producer

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

to work in "Channel 7". The channel gave them their own children's show. During this time they also recorded an album with songs composed by Vega. They have the distinction of being the first "cultural clowns" to create new children's songs in Puerto Rico. During the time that Vega wasn't acting in his clown character, he sang and composed songs for the group Haciendo Punto en Otro Son. Vega composed "Mi Son", a song that summarized the band's journey from the first album until the last studio album ''Llegaremos''. He participated in the group until the live album, ''Punto Final'' (1986). He also did a solo of one of his compositions called "Personajes". In 1985, Vega developed a new concept in children's television, which he called ''Chiquimundo'', and whose main objective was to educate children. This show was also transmitted on "Channel 7" and was produced by Rafo Muñiz (Tommy's son). "Remi" was joined by the clowns "Colorina" and "Cascabel". The show was an instant hit with the children and their parents in Puerto Rico. In 1986, the three clowns recorded an album for children which became a local hit. Vega joined forces with the musician Pedro Rivera Toledo and produced the theater production of ''El Soldadito de Plomo'' (The Little Lead Soldier) in which Vega played the leading role.

Singing career

In the year 2000, Vega was selected to represent Puerto Rico in the international song festival known as the OTI which was celebrated in the city of

Acapulco, Mexico Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the ear ...

. In the festival he sang one of his compositions ''Con Una Canción'' (With A Song) and won first place as "Best Singer". He also won a second place prize for "Best Composer". The last time a Puerto Rican had received a distinction in the "OTI" festival was in 1980, when Rafael José won as "Best Singer". Vega received a hero's welcome upon his return to the island and was honored by the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and Senate for his distinguished career of 20 years.

Later years

Vega has traveled to many cities in the United States making presentations as "Remi". He had a comic book which was called ''Remi, El Clown'' which presented the adventures of Puerto Rico's Clown, Remi.

References

External links

Haciendo Punto en Otro Son
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega Santana, Jose 1958 births Living people Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Entertainers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican cartoonists Puerto Rican comedians 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers Puerto Rican comics artists