Roberto Blanco

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Roberto Blanco (legal name: Roberto Zerquera), was born 7 June 1937 in Tunis, Tunisia. Of Afro-Cuban origin, Blanco is a German-speaking popular singer ("Schlagersänger," or "Hit-singer") and actor.

[edit] Early life

Blanco is the son of Cuban folklorist and artist Alfonso Zerquera and his wife Mercedes Blanco. He grew up in Beirut and Madrid. When Roberto was two, his mother died. After finishing school he began to study medicine in Madrid, but quit after two semesters.

[edit] Career

In 1957, he played a role in the movie, "Der Stern von Afrika" (The Star of Africa). His singing career began with Josephine Baker. In the 1960s he became a hit star in his own right and appeared in various films (among others, Allen Menschen werden Brüder (All People Become Brothers) by Johannes Mario Simmel and Drei Männer im Schnee (Three Men in the Snow) by Erich Kästner.) In 1969, Blanco won the German "Schlager-Festspiele" (approximately, "Hit pageant") with the title, "Heute so, morgen so" (Today Like This, Tomorrow Like This). Following that, he recorded a number of hit albums and had his greatest successes in 1972 with "Ein bisschen Spass muss sein" (There Must Be a Bit of Fun) by composer Christian Bruhn, and with "Der Puppenspieler von Mexiko" (The Puppetman of Mexico). Blanco appeared as a guest in numerous music variety shows on television, particularly in Germany's ZDF channel's hit parade.