Tavin Pumarejo
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Octavio Ramos Pumarejo, better known as Tavin Pumarejo (born c. 1934) is a Puerto Rican jibaro singer and comedian. While better known for his work as a comedy actor on Puerto Rican television, Pumarejo has released 16 Puerto Rican music CD's, of which one actually became a major hit in Puerto Rico.
Ramos Pumarejo was born in the San Juan "Rio Canas" barrio, which is actually much closer to downtown Caguas than it is from downtown San Juan. Having grown up in the mountains that surround the valley of Caguas, Pumarejo identifies himself with the Puerto Rican country people more than with the metropolitan people that are always associated with San Juan.
Ramos Pumarejo started to work on Puerto Rican television when Paquito Cordero began his "Show de las 12" at Telemundo Puerto Rico, WKAQ-TV. To ensure that the public remembered him, he used his relatively uncommon maternal last name as part of his stage name. Much like Jose Miguel Agrelot's "Don Cholito" character, and like Machuchal, Pumarejo donned a "pava" (Puerto Rican peasant straw hat) in each of his television appearances. The pava became a staple on Pumarejo's life, as he began using it in almost every personal appearances, and on interviews with newspapers and magazines such as El Nuevo Día, Vea, El Vocero, Teve Guía and others.
Pumarejo's nickname, "El Higado de Ganso" ("The Duck's Liver"), basically matches his dress style, as ducks are commonly seen in Puerto Rican farms, and animal liver is a common food among Puerto Rico's mountain residents.
Pumarejo is well known for his self deprecating sense of humor, which closely resembles that of a young Jerry Lewis. Asked by Luisito Vigoreaux during a live interview on national television in 2003 about his latest musical production, he answered "it can be found at some large stores, as well as in kiosks alongside (Puerto Rico's) highway #2, where they will give it for free if (you) buy a plate of fried pork". Puerto Rico's highway #2 is an area filled with kiosks that sell fried pork and other, typical Puerto Rican foods, and it happens to be located very close to Pumarejo's native "Rio Cañas" area, so the comedian has made hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of television jokes connecting him with that highway.
In 1985, Pumarejo scored a Christmas music charttopper, with his song "La Finquita" ("The Small Farm"). While many thought the song had sexual connotations, (comparing a farm with a woman's private area, because of the song's title), "La Finquita" was a number one hit in Puerto Rican radio for about eight consecutive weeks, and the CD was also one of that year's best selling Christmas CD's in Puerto Rico, along with Tony Croatto's CD, which contained the famous song, "Se Llama Jesús".
"El Show de las 12" was last aired on March of 2005. Tavin doubled over as a drug salesman during his years at "El Show de las 12". His weekdays would begin with him visiting multiple doctor offices during the mornings to pitch new medical products at them, then heading to the television studios as midday approached, doing his television intervention, then head home, or, in the case that he was recording an album or CD, to the studio.
