Raymond Arrieta

Arrieta was born and raised in Puerto Rico's Capital, San Juan. He went to school in the "Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Providencia" (Our Lady of the Providence). When he was in the third grade, Arrieta volunteered to play the part of "Ramoneta Cienfuegos" in a school play. After that he continued to participate in many of the other plays of the school. He wrote and directed "Mundo Loco" (Crazy World), which told a story about a war between the lovers of "Salsa music" against the lovers of "Rock music".[1]

After Arrieta graduated from high school, he enrolled in the "Universidad del Sagrado Corazón" (University of the Sacred Heart) of San Juan, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in "Radio and Television Production". There, he joined Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity.[1][2]

On one occasion, Arrieta and some friends visited the café theater "El Punto del Coquí" located in "Old San Juan". He sat down and played the piano while doing imitations. The owner of the club was impressed and asked Arrieta to prepare an act for his club. Arrieta prepared an act called "Black and White" which was a success and he was soon traveling around the island with his "show".[1] In 1983, Our Lady of the Providence Academy established the "Raymond Arrieta Award" which is annually awarded to the student with the best artistic qualities.[1]

Career as a comedian

In 1988, Arrieta already had his own radio show and was also participating in Telemundo's "Estudio Alegre" (Happy Studio);"El Show del Medio Día" (The Noon Show) for WAPA among others. He landed a role in the Spanish version of the play "The Diary of Anne Frank".[1]

In 1991, Arrieta went to Mexico where he participated in the play "Mama ama el Rock" (Mother loves Rock) with Mexican stars Angelica María and Angelica Vale. In 1997, he co-hosted the TV show Lente Loco (Crazy Lens), a Candid Camera-style show with the Cuban model Odalys Garcia.[1]

Later in the nineties, he had his own show "Que Vacilón" which aired in prime time through WAPA. In this comedy show of sketches and stand-ups, he brought to life, along with other local talents, a bunch of peculiar characters who gained immense popularity in the Puerto Rican pop culture, like the clown Trompetilla, a grumpy clown with a kind of fraudulent circus; and Andresito a kind of Dennis the Menace little boy. Many consider this period to be the peak of his career.[1]

Arrieta had his own weekly TV show in Puerto Rico called "El Show de Raymond". Which was transmitted through Televicentro and WAPA TV. In 2007 he switched to Telemundo and WKAQ-TV, where he starred in his own daytime daily show, "Día a Día con Raymond y Dagmar". Puerto Rican comedian, Jose Miguel Agrelot once said, that Raymond Arrieta was the greatest

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