Joselo
Joselo, born José Manuel Díaz Márquez, was a Venezuelan comedian, actor and singer who for nearly three decades was one of the best-loved faces of Venezuelan television comedy. He was born on 27 September 1936 in Barbacoas, Aragua state, one of eight children of the schoolteachers Juan Díaz and María Márquez de Díaz, and was the younger brother of the singer-songwriter Simón Díaz. After his family moved to Caracas he worked at various jobs, including as a delivery man. At first he tried to follow his brother into music, but his gift for jokes about everyday Venezuelan life set the course of his career. Through friends at the Faculty of Architecture of the Central University of Venezuela he found his way into radio, appearing on Víctor Saume's El Show de las Doce on Radio Caracas Radio in the segment that became Radio Rochela, and he made his debut on the television version of Radio Rochela on Radio Caracas Televisión in 1959. RCTV kept him with a long-term deal that made him producer of his own weekly programme, El Show de Joselo (1964–1970 and 1981). He later moved to Venevisión, where the show ran as Humor con Joselo for many years until 1993, and in 1971–1972 he also made Diviértase con Joselo for Cadena Venezolana de Televisión. His clean, cheerful humour appealed to every age group, children included, and his sketches touched on social themes and parodied the politics of the day. Among his most popular characters were El Pavo Lucas, Madam Cosmetic, El Adeco y el Copeyano, El Dr. Chimbín, El Mendigo, El Doctor Pensamos, El Viejito de la Marabunta, El Licenciado Protocolo Esparragoza and El Roquero. Joselo also starred in films in Mexico and Venezuela, including El reportero (1968), directed by Rafael Baledón, and El raspado and Yo, el gobernador under René Cardona Jr., and appeared in telenovelas such as Leonela, María José and Mariela. With Simón Díaz he recorded Las Gaitas de Joselo y Simón, produced by Hugo Blanco, which were popular at Venezuelan Christmases from 1978 to 1989. He was married to the actress Mary Soliani, and the couple appeared together in the Venevisión Christmas special La Cucarachita Martínez y el Ratón Pérez in 1982. Joselo died in Caracas on 5 January 2013, aged 76, after a liver illness. The following day he was posthumously awarded the Order of Francisco de Miranda, first class.
