Tommy Muñiz
Five of his radio programs -comedies for which he was often the scriptwriter, sometimes with the assistance of Sylvia Rexach- would consistently earn a strong following, as judged by the attendance to personal presentations of the artists featured in them.Also starring were William Gracia as Pepín, Gina Beveraggi as Gini, Edgardo Rubio as Junito, Manela Bustamante as Doña Tony, Emma Rosa Vincenty as Doňa Cayetana, and a number of additional actors in various roles.[4] As a consequence of his part in Lo que le Pasó a Santiago, Muñiz was selected to act in the 1991 television comedy film Crazy From The Heart, directed by Thomas Schlamme and featuring Christine Lahti and Rubén Blades.[4] Muñiz was born during the 1920s, the same decade when radio first arrived to Puerto Rico, to a household of several siblings including Carmen, Marjorie, Nellie, Andy, Néstor and Nilza.[18] At the moment, Puerto Rican society was being forced to adapt to an industrial movement that replaced the agrarian economy that prevailed during the early years of American colonialism.[5] The first example was Violeta Flores, a representation of the jíbaros that were leaving the rural areas to settle in urban zones amidst the change and which was featured in a radio show in which he played a man named Tadeo.[28] Producciones Tommy Muñiz was struggling Cordero and Agrelot were already involved in television shows Mímicas del Monte, Mapy y Papi and Capitán Colgate.[32] Two shows where then created, a television adaptation of El colegio de la alegría and A reirse con Ola, which aired in a prime time slot on Wednesdays and was hosted by Yoyo Boing and Cordero.[39] Américo Castellanos suggested to play the female character of Floripondia, a move that was considered in poor taste by the administration of WKAQ, but went ahead due to the producer's insistence.[47] Despite local television introducing more foreign programming, Producciones Tommy Muñiz continued unabated producing Lotus lo divierte (his first for WAPA-TV), Garata deportiva, El chiste Camel, Telefiesta de la tarde and Reina por un día between 1956 and 1959.[53] By 1963, Muñiz dominated the daytime ratings, but Desafiando a los genios remained his only show in the nighttime block, hosted by Agrelot, Castro and Osvaldo Seda as the titular "geniuses".[55] Aimed at the middle class and originally conceived as a nighttime show, a pilot was filmed at WKAQ but problems with the station's protocol led to it being pitched to WAPA from its own studio.[63] Tommy Muñiz produced the second and exploiting the lack of exclusivity, exported Telefiesta to WAPA-TV (while dominating the ratings with several shows based at WKAQ-TV) on December 29, 1958, to replace Menéndez.[71] On September 21, 1976, Producciones Tommy Muñiz debuted Los García, a sitcom reflecting the increasingly changing dynamic of Puerto Rican families during the ongoing industrial surge.[74] When another foreign group purchased WAPA-TV, the new owners began implanting different moral standards that led to censoring some characters and modified the time slots.[78] However, governor Carlos Romero Barceló requested voiding the auction where WRIK-TV acquired the rights so that the event could air through WIPR-TV, noting that otherwise they would be cancelled.[88] Cámara Siete would gather a number of exclusives, including special programming surrounding the Falklands War and the arrival of Deborah Carthy-Deu after winning Miss Universe.[89] Rafo Muñiz was in charge of promotions for the station and produced two shows, Los pupilos and Latino, later Son del Caribe, which introduced Héctor Marcano and Roberto Vigoreaux to television.[94] Children's programming was first in charge of Sandra Seiter, but later introduced Tamborito y Colorina and Chiquimundo, the latter of which marked the debut of José Vega as in shows directed towards that audience.[96] The case took place in the mountain housing antennas that transmitted WKRIK's programming and one of the technicians was a witness, in the ensuing coverage the image of Romero Barceló was linked to the controversy.[98] The process extended for months and it brought political tension against those involved in the transmission leading to several bomb warnings being issued against the channel, while the Muñiz family was directly threatened along "Profe".[100] However, the relation with advertisers was affected and Muñiz opted to sell the station in 1985 to avoid bankruptcy in exchange for the continuation of the original employees as part of an arrangement made by Pedro.[102] Eventually, Rafo approached him about a return to theatre with a play named Los muchachos de la alegría, which was accepted and Morales was brought in to direct and as part of the cast.[104] The play was a hit and moved from Bellas Artes to Teatro Tapia and then left San Juan to be shown at Mayagüez and Ponce, totaling over 30 shows.[110] His performance in Lo que le pasó a Santiago led to the interest of TNT, which contracted him for the role of Tomás Ontiveros in Crazy from the Heart along Rubén Blades.[118] When Malrite Communications sold channel 7, Muñiz (who still owned 20% of the stocks) filed a lawsuit due to not being informed of the move, winning it and ending his relationship with the station.[123] It wasn't until September 3 that he made a return to the media in a special edition of El colegío de la alegría titled Cuarenta años no son na' reprising his role.[125] Eventually, Rafo Muñiz convinced his father to participate in another special, this one dedicated to him, titled Los 75 años de don Tommy filmed for WAPA-TV on February 3, 1997, before a live audience that filled the venue.[81] Muñíz was married to Luz María García de la Noceda and they had eight children: Rafael (aka Rafo), Ruby, Hilda, Mario, Luzie, Tomito, Manolo, Pedro and Félix Antonio (Toño).[143] The facility housed lions, tigers, gazelles, zebras, kangaroos, an hippopotamus, an elephant, bears, a number of large reptiles and exotic birds acquired with the collaboration of the Guyanese authorities, but was headlined by the male chimpanzee named Yuyo.