The best loved actor/comedian in the history of Puerto Rico, was also a
supreme skilled musician. Rivero has become part of the consciousness
of the country because he made the people laugh during a time when
Puerto Rico was undergoing its most difficult cultural, political,
economic and social transformation. His career was cut short with his
death in 1956 at the age of 47, as he was about to cross over to
Hollywood.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Peter Bond
In Puerto Rico, Ramón Rivero is known mostly for his radio shows and
his theater work. It is said that the whole of Puerto Rico stopped at
midday to listen to "El Tremendo Hotel", a 15 minute radio sketch that
ran from 1948 to 1956. His funeral was the largest ever seen in Puerto
Rico, with half the capital city of San Juan flooded with people, there
to say goodbye to their favorite entertainer.
His epitaph reads (On his gravestone): "Perdonen que no me levante."
(Forgive me for not standing.)
Father of author Joseph Orbi
Rivero has an enormous 15 foot bronze statue erected in his honor, in
Puerto Rico. One of very few actor/comedians in the world who have been
immortalized that way.