| Jaime Bayly | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jaime Bayly Letts February 19, 1965 Lima, Peru |
| Occupation | Writer, Journalist |
| Language | (Spanish) (English) |
| Spouse(s) | Silva Nuñez del Arco (2011-present) Sandra Masías (1993-1997) |
Jaime Bayly Letts (born February 19, 1965 , in Lima, Peru) is a Peruvian writer, journalist and television personality.[1] He is the third of 10 children and is known as "el niño terrible" (the terrible boy).
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A student at Markham College, an English private school in Lima, and later at Colegio San Agustín of Lima. In his early youth he was coerced by his mother to work at daily newspaper La Prensa of Lima in order to become more responsible through a part-time job. He spent every afternoon after school working in journalism until late.
In 1982 he was accepted to the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. After studying for four years, he had to leave the university as he could not pass a mandatory subject.
His first television appearance was in 1983 during Peruvian municipal elections, interviewing candidates and politicians. Later on, he began a career as a late show host interviewing celebrities.
Bayly's first late-night show, '1990 en America', got the attention of TV audiences and critics. The following year he hosted a copy of David Letterman's Late Show called 'Que hay de nuevo?', also highly popular.[2]
During the 1990s Bayly hosted late-night shows in the United States at CBS Telenoticias Network Latin America and Telemundo for six years.
After President of Peru Alberto Fujimori sought asylum in Japan in 2001 following a ten-year term in order to avoid prosecution on charges of corruption, independent news media found itself in a better position. Bayly was able to host political programme 'El Francotirador' ('The Sniper'), interviewing candidates to the 2001 Presidential Election. In that programme, he apparently offended several personalities with his political opinions, and finally had to quit. Inspired by the experience, Bayly wrote a book titled as the show. Later he resumed the program. His interviewing style is somewhat aggressive & controversial leaving him looking calm & collected but reflecting poorly on his guests.
In 2010, Bayly announced he intended to run for President in the Peruvian general election, 2011 to succeed Alan García. Later that year, he supported leftist candidate Susana Villaran in her successful campaign to become mayor of Lima. As a consequence, broadcasting company Frecuencia Latina cancelled his show.
His novel No se lo Digas a Nadie (Don't Tell Anyone) inspired a screenplay in 1998 directed by Francisco Lombardi starring Santiago Magill and Christian Meier. He wrote other novels, all of them on politics, sexual freedom and friendship. Several of his books contain recurring semi-autobiographical elements (e.g. bisexual cocaine using Peruvian newscaster who moves to Miami). The character for "El Cojo" is supposedly based on his father who was also lame. His characters are often heartless, amoral, or, more precisely, reflect moral ambivalence, which makes it difficult to identify with them.