Miguel Ángel Álvarez
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Miguel Ángel Álvarez, also known as "El Men", (born August 25, 1928, in San Juan de Puerto Rico), is a Puerto Rican comedian and actor.
Miguel was born in San Juan; however his family moved to Bayamón where he attended school and finished his primary and secondary education. Álvarez began his artistic career as a radio announcer, working for radio station WENA. He took part in the radio show El Tremendo Hotel (The Tremendous Hotel) in which Ramón Rivero "Diplo" starred. Soon Álvarez was contracted to do radionovelas, which were radio soap operas.
The Puerto Rican playwright, Francisco Arriví invited Álvarez to appear in three of his plays. The three plays in which Álvarez made his theatrical debut were Club de Solteros (Singles Club), El Caso del Muerto en Vida (The Case of the Living Dead), and María Soledad (Lonely Maria). Álvarez was asked to stand in for Jacobo Morales in the theater production El Cielo se rinde al Amanecer (The Sky Surrenders at Dawn) because Morales was feeling ill. Álvarez had to learn the script that very night.
Álvarez's popularity grew and soon he was filming movies in various countries. Among the countries in which he filmed were Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and the United States besides Puerto Rico. In 1965, he performed one of the leading roles in the mexican film, "El Señor Doctor", with Cantinflas, and Marta Romero. In Puerto Rico he participated in a comedy entitled Johnny "El Men", which was about the struggles of a Puerto Rican in New York. It was from this comedy that Álvarez got the nickname which would accompany him for the rest of his life, "El Men".
Álvarez directed four movies for Columbia Pictures. These were: Arocho y Clemente, Dos Contra el Destino (Two Against Destiny), Natas es Satanas and El Alcalde Machuchal.
In 1981, Álvarez starred in a local TV comedy series called "Barrio 4 Calles" in which he played the owner of a bakery shop who was in competition, and constant conflict, with the owner of the bakery shop across the street. He also appeared in El Kiosko Budweiser.
