Melwin Cedeño
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| Melwin Cedeño | |
| Born | December 27, 1964 (age 42) Puerto Rico |
| Notable roles | Chevy Willie |
Melwin Cedeño (born December 27, 1964 in Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actor and comedian. Cedeño is more known for her role as Chevy, a Nuyorican teenager.
Cedeño began studies in pre-medics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. However, he dropped out to study Drama at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras.
While studying, Cedeño joined a merengue orchestra called Los Nenes de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Kids). Together in the orchestra were the future members of popular merengue group, Límite 21. He also joined the university theatre group working in several plays during his tenure.
He also debuted in television shows with roles in soap operas like Alejandra and Apartamento de Solteras (Single's Apartment). He garnered much recognition for his role of a young drug addict in the drama Andrea.
At the end of the 80s, Cedeño started working as a comedian at popular shows like Show del Mediodía and Kiosko Budweiser. It was during this time that his character of Chevy was born. His popularity spawned a daily show titled Con Lo Que Cuenta Este País which remained among the top shows of the island for several years.
In the mid-90s, Cedeño hosted the game show Alto Voltaje (High Voltage) which got a lukewarm reception from the audience. The show lasted only three months and Cedeño decided to retire briefly from public life. He moved to the United States exploring offers in Telemundo and Univision but couldn't reach an agreement with any.
He returned to Puerto Rico and started working in theatre and television again. In the late-90s, he produced a film titled Chevy... Episodio I which marked the return of his popular character. In 1999, he started hosting a new show for kids titled Pégate con Chevy (Stick with Chevy) which received the approval of the children audience. However, in 2001, the show was cancelled despite favorable reviews.
Cedeño still works regularly in television and theatre, and his character of Chevy remains popular among children.
[edit] Personal Life
Cedeño has been married twice. He married his first wife early in his career and divorced in the early 90s. In 1994 he married Phaedra Michalzik, a popular television model, comedian and sex symbol at the time.
[edit] Trivia
Cedeño is a close friend of boxer Héctor "El Macho" Camacho. This brought on one of his most infamous moments when Camacho invited him to sing - as Chevy - the Puerto Rican national anthem (La Borinqueña) before Camacho's Pay Per View world title challenge of Julio César Chávez in Las Vegas on September 15, 1992. Although he isn't a professional singer, Cedeño sang the anthem with famous Puerto Rican cuatro player Pedro Guzmán.
Many criticized the choosing of Cedeño for this task, but he answered his critics by saying on magazines that he, at least, sang the song from his heart, whereas popular Mexican singer Vicente Fernández had to read the words of the Mexican national anthem from a small paper to sing that night.
