Nobel Vega (August 21, 1931 – August 7, 2023), better known as Tio Nobel or Uncle Nobel, was a Cuban actor and children's television personality. Vega is mostly remembered for his character as a boat captain who appeared on

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 ...

WKAQ-TV WKAQ-TV (channel 2) is a television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, serving as the U.S. territory's dual Telemundo and NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. WKAQ-TV's studios are loc ...

's "El Show del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Show"), a daily children's game show he hosted in which children played for prizes, usually

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

branded toys. His show competed with Spaniard Pacheco's "Cine Recreo", shown on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the flagship and namesake station of Guaynabo-based WAPA Media Group. WAPA-TV maintains studio facilities on Luis Vigoreaux Avenue ...

, Telemundo Puerto Rico's rival television station.

Early life and career

Nobel Vega became an actor in his native Cuba and he participated in various films before, after the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, he, like many other Cuban nationals of the era, left his country. He settled in

where he found television work and fame, first playing

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...

for young Puerto Rican audiences on WAPA-TV. Vega also participated in a

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

, 1969's Conciencia Culpable. Vega then moved to Telemundo Puerto Rico, where he starred as "Tio Nobel" for more than 20 years on the "Tio Nobel Show" as well as in "El Mundo Infantil del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Children's World") and "El Festival del Tio Nobel" ("Uncle Nobel's Festival"). In later years, he took his "Tio Nobel" character and moved to another Puerto Rican channel, Tele Once.

Personal life

Vega moved from Puerto Rico during the later stages of his life and he resided in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He was married to his longtime wife, Nadine Zayas.

Illness and death

Vega in his older age suffered a number of health issues, including having a brain stroke which left him with difficulty to speak, heart problems which led to having a

pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

installed, several injuries and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Nobel Vega died at his home in Miami on August 7, 2023, at the age of 92.

Filmography

Vega participated in three films, including one

Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...

. *" La Justicia de Los Villalobos" (1961, as "Machito") *" Aqui Estan Los Villalobos" (1962, also known as "La Justicia de Los Villalobos 2" and as "El Terror Blanco", as "Machito") *" Calendar Pin-up Girls" (1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Nobel 1931 births 2023 deaths Cuban children's television presenters Cuban emigrants to Puerto Rico Cuban male actors Male actors from Miami Puerto Rican television personalities

Early life and career

Personal life

Illness and death

Filmography

See also

Fellow Cuban expatriates in Puerto Rico

References