Juan Manuel Lebrón Román (born April 22, 1947) is a Puerto Rican actor, comedian, model, screenwriter, television producer and salsa singer.

Career

Juan Manuel Lebrón Román began his show business career as a youngster, then when he became a singer at the Sexteto Ritmico group. Not long after, Lebrón became the lead singer of Orquesta Sensacional, a popular salsa orchestra of the era. In 1976, Lebrón made his debut as an actor, when he was hired to play "JuanMa" in channel 2's comedy show, " En Casa de JuanMa y Wiwi" ("At JuanMa and Wiwi's Home"). Lebron acted alongside Awilda Carbia, who played "JuanMa"'s wife "Wiwi". The pair became one of

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 ...

's most popular television couples in history, and their show lasted fourteen years on Puerto Rican television. In 1978, Lebrón was recognized with the

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

comedian of the year award, an award given to Puerto Rican comedy actors. By 1980, he had been recognized by the Puerto Rican Junior Commerce Chamber as one of the "top ten Puerto Rican youngsters". Having already participated in his first album (as a member of Orquesta Sensacional), Lebron in 1982 released a single. "Amores sin Sentido" ("Pointless Loves"), which became a chart topper in Puerto Rico. By then, he formed part, alongside Lourdes Chacon, Otilio Warrington, Shorty Castro and Adrián García, among others, of another comedy show, " Los Kakukomicos" ("The Telemundo Comedians"). In "Los Kakukomicos", Lebrón formed part of a mock music group that satirized Menudo, a well known

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

of the era. He and Warrington also became popular as a comic duo as time went by. In 1985, Lebrón represented Puerto Rico in the Festival OTI for Latin American singers. He sang "Represento", a major hit song that was written by

Lou Briel Lou Briel (born October 19 Santurce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican singer, composer, comedian, record producer, pianist, and host, among other things. Musical career Early years with Anexo 3 Lou Briel started his career at a very young age as ...

. One of the people who backed the choosing of Lebron as Puerto Rico's participant at that festival was Lola Flores. In 1986, Lebrón was awarded the "Buho de Oro" trophy in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

as a popular entertainer in that Central American country, where he earned a golden album that same year, for the sales produced by his album, "Represento". During the 1980s also, Lebron was a popular talk show visitor, being invited to many of Puerto Rico's talk shows on multiple occasions. In 1990, production of "En Casa de JuanMa y Wiwi" ceased, and Lebrón released another album, " El Primero" ("The First One"), of which one single, "Ella y Tu" ("You and Her"), earned Lebron a nomination for salsa singer of the year at the

Premios Lo Nuestro The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro ( Spanish for "Ours") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by TelevisaUnivision, and is carried by its Univision network in association with its related radio sta ...

awards. The album reached number-one on the ''Billboard'' Tropical Albums chart. By 1992, Lebrón was chosen by channel 2 as their spokesman for the yearlong celebrations of the quincentennial of the discovery of the Americas by Cristobal Colon. He represented Puerto Rico at the Expo '92, which was held that year in

Sevilla, Spain Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. Lebron in 1993 received the Paoli award as Puerto Rican salsa singer of the year. He has released a total of nine albums or CD's; these include dedications to

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

and Tito Rodriguez and a production, "Una Obra de Amor" ("An Act of Love"), which was later re-edited and dedicated to children with HIV. In 1995, Lebrón made his Hollywood debut in " Assassins", with

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

and

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

. "Assassins" remains as Lebrón's only Hollywood movie. Juan Manuel Lebrón Román and Junior Abrahms, a former sportscaster turned actor and show host, are in charge of hosting a game show named " Atrevete" ("Dare"). Nevertheless, he has dabbed in on Telemundo Puerto Rico's main rival, WAPA-TV, making sporadic appearances at WAPA shows, usually when friends of his work at a particular WAPA show. He also acted in " Los Seijo-Dones" ("The Seijo-Dones Family") and " Anda Pa'l Cara" (which loosely translates to "Holy Cow!"). Lebrón has also collaborated on many television

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

, for companies such as

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

and Church's fried chicken, among others. Juan Manuel Lebrón Román has also acted on theater plays. In 2005, he participated in his third film, (along with Conexion Caribe and Assassins) Puerto Rican production " El Vacilon: The Movie" ("Goofing Off: The Movie").

References

External links

Lebron's Yahoo! Movies page

prpop.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebron, Juan Manuel 1947 births Living people 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers Puerto Rican male comedians Puerto Rican male screenwriters Puerto Rican screenwriters Puerto Rican male stage actors Salsa musicians Puerto Rican male television actors Place of birth missing (living people)

Career

See also

References

External links