Don Francisco (television host)

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Don Francisco

Personal data
Birthname	Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld
Born	December 28, 1940(1940-12-28) Talca, Chile
Father	Erick Kreutzberger
Mother	Anna Blumenfeld Neufeld
Brother	René Kreutzberger Blumenfeld
Wife	Teresa "Temmy" Muchnik Rosenblum
Children	Patricio, Vivian and Francisco
Starred in	Los Sábados Gigantes (Chile 1962) Sábado Gigante (USA 1986)

Don Francisco (b. December 28, 1940 in Talca, Chile) is the artistic name of Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld, a Chilean-American talk and variety show host. He is best known for hosting the variety show Sábado Gigante.

1 Biography
2 Criticism
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Don Francisco was born into a Chilean-German Jewish family; his parents had fled to Chile, escaping from Nazi persecution. As a youth, he traveled to New York to study to be a tailor, but he spent most of the time watching TV. Back in Chile, where TV was just beginning, Don Francisco started a TV show in 1962, and he named it Sábados Gigantes. In it, he adapted many of the formulas he had seen in American TV to the Chilean public. The show became an instant hit that has lasted 40 years. In 1986, the show began to be produced in Miami, Florida, with the same formula used in Chile, with the slightly different name of Sábado Gigante. Don Francisco immediately became a household name among Latino families across the United States, and in the following five years.

Kreutzberger has a three hour long variety show, including contests, comedy, interviews and a traveling camera section. The traveling camera section, or Cámara Viajera (originally La Película Extranjera, The Alien Film), has taken Don Francisco to over 185 countries worldwide, many of them more than once.

Kreutzberger not only imported from American TV some of the ideas for his show, but also the idea of doing a Telethon, similar to the one Jerry Lewis has done for years in the USA. Don Francisco has done many telethons to raise money for disaster relief and to help disabled children.

Kreutzberger in his show has interviewed many celebrities, including Roberto Duran, Cristina Saralegui, Sussan Taunton, Charytin and many others. In addition, his show has launched the careers of many famous entertainers, such as Sissi and many others.

In 1991, Kreutzberger introduced a new programming show by every Wednesdays at 10PM is called "Noches de Gigantes" on Univision until ended in 1992.

In 1994, Kreutzberger was accused by one of his models of sexual harassment, but the charges were dismissed.^{[citation needed]}

Nowadays, Kreutzberger has stopped flying back and forth between Miami and Chile each week to tape both the Chilean show and the international show, and his daughter Viviana is becoming quite famous as the host of the Chilean show. Apparently, having to travel so much between Miami and his home country each week, plus having to travel to worldwide locations to tape La Cámara Viajera, was becoming too strenuous for him.

Also, Kreutzberger hosted a season of the Chilean version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Deal or No Deal.

In 2002, Kreutzberger's show completed 40 years, and its host said he has no plans to retire until the day he dies.

On April Fool's Day, 2003, a rumor that Kreutzberger had died surfaced around the New York and New Jersey area. The rumor proved false, but sent many of his fans into a panic until it was revealed as an April Fool's joke. [Lee Alan Hill. “Giant of Spanish TV First in U.S. Production.” Television Week, 30 May 2005, p. 26]

Currently, Kreutzberger hosts two weekly shows on Univision: his normal stint on Sábado Gigante on Saturdays, and Don Francisco Presenta (Don Francisco Presents), a more serious interview-only show on a par with Cristina Saralegui's offering, on Wednesdays.

[edit] Criticism

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Kreutzberger has been criticized in Chile mainly by left-wing intellectuals, and some politicians such as right-wing Mayor of Las Condes Francisco de la Maza, and former Communist leader Gladys Marín because of its influence in contemporary Chilean society, his relation with the military government of Augusto Pinochet, and the financing of the Telethon Foundation.