Paquito Cordero

Paquito Cordero
Born	Francisco Cordero Baez 1932 Santurce, Puerto Rico
Died	June 30, 2009 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Occupation	Comedian and television producer
Notes
Mapy Cortés was Cordero's aunt.

Paquito Cordero (1932 – June 30, 2009), was a pioneer of Puerto Rican television. He was also a comedian and television producer.

Cordero (birth name: Francisco Cordero Baez) was born to Francisco Cordero Paco and Berta Baez de Cordero in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Cordero attended Santurce Central High School upon finishing his primary and secondary education. He was a member of his high school's drama club and participated in its plays, where he discovered the art of comedy. Cordero was geatly influenced by his aunt on his father's side, Mapy Cortés. Mapy Cortés had moved to Mexico from Puerto Rico, where she became an actress. There she met and married Mexican actor, "Fernando Cortés". After Cordero graduated from high school, he enrolled and attended the University of Puerto Rico and married his childhood sweetheart, a hairdresser whom everyone knew as "Cuqui". With Cuqui he had three children, two girls and one boy.

Cordero auditioned for a role in a comedy skit which was transmitted through Radio El Mundo and was subsequently hired. He did this in his spare time. His aunt Mapy and her husband Fernando returned to the island and presented an idea for a comedy show to Ángel Ramos, owner of El Mundo Enterprises. On March 28, 1954, Puerto Rico received its first television transmission from Angel Ramos' WKAQ-TV Telemundo Channel 2. Among the first comedy shows to go on the air was "Mapy Y Papi" with Mapy and Fernando Cortés, María Judith Franco and Paquito Cordero.

During this period in his life, he fell in love with one of the show's dancers, a young girl by the name of Nora. He soon divorced his first wife and asked Nora to marry him. She accepted and together they had a son, Santiago.

In the 1960s, Cordero formed his own production company which he named Paquito Cordero Productions, Inc. His younger sister, Bertita, became his assistant and eventually his younger brother, Jorge, would also join the company as a future co-producer. On January 11, 1965, Telemundo transmitted the first program produced by Paquito called "El Show de las 12" (The 12 O'Clock Show). The first show included appearances by El Gran Combo, Tito Lara, Los Hispanos, and Olga y Tony. It also included a section within the show, dedicated to the teenage crowd, called "Canta la Juventud" (Youth Sings). Among those taking part in this section were Alfred D. Herger and Puerto Rican teen idols Lucecita Benítez and Chucho Avellanet. "El Show de Las 12" was presented by Miguel Ángel Álvarez and Eddie Miró was the scriptwriter. The show was a success and was watched by over 80 percent of the population, becoming one of Puerto Rico's most beloved programs for over 40 years.