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
Santurce (, from the Basque ''Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city wit ...
. He was the third of four children of Felipe Antonio Agrelot Fittipaldi and Ana Luisa Vilá Cruz. His paternal grandparents were born in Lauria, Italy and immigrated to Puerto Rico in 1892, two years before his father’s birth. His sister, Ana Luisa, a teacher, later became a part-time comedic actress as well. He started working on
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 ...
s when he was 14. At that time, he was employed by radio entrepreneur Tomás Muñiz, then the general manager of WIAC-AM and the father of later producer and actor Tommy Muñiz. During this period Agrelot developed his first comedic character, ''Torito Fuertes'', a mischievous eight-year-old for a family comedy show sponsored by Borden, Inc. and its
evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...
(the name Torito Fuertes was a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on "strong calf", a desirable consequence of drinking good milk). The character later took a life of his own on a radio show first named ''El Profesor Colgate'' (sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive's flagship toothpaste) and later called ''El Colegio de la Alegría'' (''The School of Joy''). This program featured Tommy Muñiz as the schoolteacher of a rather dysfunctional classroom.
Apart from appearances in numerous commercials, Agrelot's credits in Puerto Rican television included:
*''La Criada Malcriada'' (''The Rude Maid'')
*''El Especial de Corona'' (''The Corona Special'')
*''Desafiando a los Genios'' (''Challenging The Geniuses''), a personal favorite of Pablo Casals
*''Haciendo Historia'' (''Making History'')
*''El Show del Mediodia'' (''The Midday show'', as ''Don Cholito'', another legendary character of his)
*''Parece Increible'' (''It Seems Incredible'')
*''Ja ja, Ji ji, Jo jo con Agrelot''
Comedic characters
Agrelot created the following characters:
*''"Don Pulula"'', a mild mannered evangelical pastor with a proclivity for mild
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
s (he modeled his voice after that of Rafael Quiñones Vidal, a Puerto Rican television host),
*''"Mario Trauma"'', a crazed mental patient who constantly screamed in falsetto and was in reality saner than the people around him (he modeled his voice after a floor coordinator at WAPA-TV),
*''"Pasión"'', an
old maid
An old maid is a spinster.
Old maid or Old Maid may also refer to:
Games
*Old maid (card game), a simple game popular around the world, existing in many variants
*, a German card game (variant of ) whose name translates as 'old maid'
Film
* ' ...
desperately looking for male company,
*''"Serafín Sin Fin y Sin Meta"'', an effeminate man with a heart-shaped
birthmark
A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...
in his cheek (while claiming that Serafín was not a homosexual and never made a pass to anyone during the character's run, Agrelot faced protests from the local chapter of GLAAD and discontinued the character)
*''"Soldado Manteca"'', an inept
Beetle Bailey
''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...
-like character who was part of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
(Agrelot described him once as Torito Fuertes, all grown up)
*''"Cerebrito Ligón"'', a man who claimed to be a
peeping Tom
Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly re ...
but wouldn't dare to peep. A famous episode had a young Alida Arizmendi, later a Puerto Rican legislator, confronting him while he tried to sneak into an all-female
gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
;
*''"Speedy González"'', an extremely fast gibberish-talking
handyman
A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, are both interior and exterior, and are so ...
, who would always charge US$10.00 for his services (later increased to US$20.00 because of inflation). This character was a favorite of
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen ...
's.
*''"Don Remigio Rodríguez y Rodriguez"'', an almost catatonic, extremely frank businessman (and the owner of ''Rodríguez y Rodriguez Sociedad en Comandita'') who had a proclivity for face gestures and sticking out his tongue. He had a standing feud with Joaquín, the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
-born store owner across the street (played by Spanish actor Ricardo Fabregues), to whom he constantly insulted (''"¡Joaquín, pillo!"'') Don Rodríguez later starred in
Sunshine Logroño
Emmanuel Logroño (born November 1, 1951), better known as Sunshine Logroño, is an American actor. Logroño has worked in Puerto Rican media for close to three decades.
Early years
Born in New York to a Puerto Rican mother, Logroño moved to S ...
's film, ''"Chona, La Puerca Asesina"''
*''El Juez'', a character modeled after
Pigmeat Markham
Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham (April 18, 1904 – December 13, 1981) was an American entertainer. Though best known as a comedian, Markham was also a singer, dancer, and actor. His nickname came from a stage routine, in which he declared himself to be ...
and Sammy Davis, Jr.'s ''"Here Come Da Judge"'' character (more Davis' than Markham's) who had a huge mallet and would use it against a defendant's head if necessary during trials
*''Don Segismundo'', the mayor of Trujillo Bajo, a fictional municipality in Puerto Rico (Agrelot said once that Segismundo was actually Don Rodríguez y Rodríguez turned public servant)
*''"Pancho Matanzas"'', a Cuban immigrant that, as many did at the time, would sell anything to support himself and his family.
*''"Juan Macana"'', a not-very-bright
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
officer, PRPD badge number 13,378García, Beba, ¡Juan, Juan, Juan! Crónica de la televisión puertorriqueña en tiempos de don Tommy, p. 192 who popularized in Puerto Rico a phrase Agrelot constantly heard in Mexico during one of his tours: ''"Sí, ¿cómo no?"'' ("Yeah, why not?")
Agrelot would also parody famous characters from film and cinema in his comedy program, "Ja Ja, Ji Ji, Jo Jo Con Agrelot". His most famous parody was that of Marlon Brando as
Vito Corleone
Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfathe ...
in
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...
movie trilogy.
Agrelot appeared as Padre Ambrosio, a priest, in
Jacobo Morales
Jacobo Morales (born 12 November 1934) is a Puerto Rican actor, poet, writer, playwright, filmmaker, and auteur.List of Puerto Ricans
References
#Exponen restos de Agrelot en funeraria Buxeda. San Juan, Puerto Rico: ''El Nuevo Día''. January 29, 2004.