  dr. rafael josÃ© diaz (born april 22, 1955) is a puerto rican actor, singer and television host. rafael was born in manatÃ­, puerto rico, where his father, a physician born in the dominican republic, was the medical director of the local hospital. his family eventually moved to mayagÃ¼ez in western puerto rico where he grew up. while living in mayagÃ¼ez he sang and acted in various amateur radio and television broadcasts, as well as in high school talent shows. his reputation as a powerful singer followed him to san juan, puerto rico, while attending medical school. his family supported his singing career on the condition that he finished the dentistry program at the university of puerto ricoâs medical school. he interrupted his studies for close to eight years when his singing career took off, but eventually finished his degree and became a dentist (although he rarely practices his profession nowadays). in 1980, he won the festival oti, in argentina, with his interpretation of the song contigo mujer, which became an instant hit all over the puerto rican radio. the song was composed by singer ednita nazario and laureano brizuela. another radio hit was "yo quiero hacerte olvidar", the theme song for the telenovela "martha llorens". he soon began acting on television in various telenovelas and in 1983 became co-host of the saturday night program a millÃ³n, along with hÃ©ctor marcano and sonia noemÃ­ on wapa-tv. he proved to be a talented tv host and lasted there for various seasons. during this time, he and his then wife, actress magali carrasquillo, had a son, juan pablo. in 1986, josÃ© moved on to join future senator roberto vigoreaux in hosting another wapa-tv game show, sabado en grande, when a millÃ³n was moved to sunday nights. during this time, he also performed with antonio sÃ¡nchez in several comedies like el cuartel de la risa and adultos solteros. in the late 90s, he was hired by univision in miami. josÃ© then became a recognizable face with latino audiences in the united states with the movie showcase program tu pelicula. later on he joined the morning show Â¡despierta amÃ©rica!, along with fernando arau, ana marÃ­a canseco, neyda sandoval and fellow puerto rican giselle blondet. in 1998, jose covered the 1998 fifa world cup as a commentator for univision. on 2005, he started hosting univision-puerto ricoâs successful night show [[anda pa
1955_births American_television_talk_show_hosts Living_people People_from_ManatA,_Puerto_Rico Puerto_Rican_comedians Puerto_Rican_male_singers Puerto_Rican_male_soap_opera_actors Puerto_Rican_male_stage_actors Puerto_Rican_television_personalities