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Line 1: {{short description\|Chilean television personality (born 1940)}} '''Don Francisco''' is the artistic name of a Chilean [[television]] host. ''Mario Kreutzberger'' (his real name) was born in [[Chile]] to a [[Germany\|German]] [[Jew]]ish family. His parents had fled to Chile escaping from [[Nazi]] persecution. {{Other uses\|Don Francisco (disambiguation){{!}}Don Francisco}} {{family name hatnote\|Kreutzberger\|Blumenfeld\|lang=Spanish}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=December 2022}} {{Use American English\|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox person \| name = Don Francisco \| image = Teletón 2018 07.jpg \| birth_name = Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld \| birth_date = {{Birth date and age\|1940\|12\|28\|df=y}} \| birth_place = [[Talca]], Chile \| nationality = Chilean and American \| citizenship = Chile \| occupation = Television host \| years_active = 1962–present \|agent = \| television = {{ubl \| ''[[Sábado Gigante]]'' \| ''[[Don Francisco Presenta]]'' \| ''[[Don Francisco te invita]]'' }} \| spouse = Teresa "Temmy" Muchnik Rosenblum (m. 1962) \| children = 4 }} '''Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld''' ({{IPA\|es-419\|ˈmaɾjo ˈkɾojtsβeɾɣeɾ\|lang}}; born 28 December 1940), better known by his [[stage name]] as '''Don Francisco''' ({{IPA\|es\|doɱ fɾanˈsisko\|pron}}), is a Chilean television host, and a popular personality on the [[Univision]] network reaching Spanish-speaking viewers in the United States. He is best known for hosting the former variety shows ''[[Sábado Gigante]]'', ''[[Don Francisco Presenta]]'' and [[Don Francisco Te Invita]]. 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 ''[[Sabados 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 as the #1 viewed show in Chile. In [[1985]], the show began to be produced in [[Miami, Florida]], with the same formula used in Chile, with the slightly different name of ''Sabado Gigante''. Don Francisco immediately became a household name among [[Latino]] families across the [[United States]], and in the following five years, television networks from all over [[Latin America]] started buying the show. [[Spain]] also became a show customer during that period, and with that, 99 percent of [[Spanish language]] speaking people knew who Don Francisco was. For a few year, he continued flying weekly to Chile to tape the Chilean ''Sabados Gigantes'', and back to Miami to do the international show. ==Biography== His is a four hour long variety show, including contests, comedy, interviews and a ''traveling camera'' section. The traveling camera section, or ''Camara Viajera'' (originally ''La Pelicula Extranjera'', The foreign film), has taken Don Francisco to over 185 countries world-wide, many of them more than once. Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld was born in [[Talca, Chile]] on 28 December 1940, to Anna Blumenfeld Neufeld and Erick Kreutzberger, of German Jewish ancestry who fled to Chile to escape from World War II. He has always been fluent in both Spanish and German; the latter, which was used with his parents at home when he was growing up, was his first language. He is of Jewish faith.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news \|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/arts/television-radio-for-100-million-he-is-saturday-night.html \|title=For 100 Million, He Is Saturday Night \|date=2 June 2002 \|author=Larry Rother \|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]\|access-date=18 February 2017\|archive-date=21 January 2018\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121184352/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/arts/television-radio-for-100-million-he-is-saturday-night.html\|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526185809/http://thejewishstate.net/aug1409donfrancisco.html\|archive-date=26 May 2010 \|url=http://thejewishstate.net/aug1409donfrancisco.html \|title=The story of 'Don Francisco' \|date=14 August 2009 \|author=Judith W. Rosenthal \|publisher=The Jewish State}}</ref> ==Career== ~~He not only imported from American TV some of the ideas for his show,~~ Kreutzberger started a TV show in 1962, and he named it ''Show Dominical'' ("Sunday's Show") on [[Canal 13 (Chile)\|Canal 13]]; the program's broadcasts were subsequently moved to Saturdays, and henceforth, was renamed ''[[Sábado Gigante]]''. In it, he adapted many of the formulas he had seen in American television to the Chilean public. The show became an instant hit that lasted over 53 years. In 1986, the show began to be produced by [[Spanish International Network\|SIN]] in [[Miami, Florida]], with the same formula used in Chile, with the slightly different name of ''Sábado Gigante'' to [[KMEX-DT]] channel 34 [[Los Angeles]]. ~~but also the idea of doing a [[Telethon]], similar to the one [[Jerry Lewis]] has done for years in the US.~~ For the next six years, Kreutzberger developed a three-hour-long [[variety show]], which included contests, comedy, interviews and a ''traveling camera'' section. The traveling camera, or ''Cámara Viajera'' (originally ''La Película Extranjera'', The Foreign Movie), has taken "Don Francisco" to over 185 countries worldwide, many of them more than once.{{Citation needed\|date=October 2015}} Kreutzberger in his show has interviewed many celebrities, including [[Roberto ~~Duran~~Durán]], [[Cristina Saralegui]], [[~~Charytin~~Sussan Taunton]], [[Charytín]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[George W. Bush]], [[Barack Obama]], [[Bill Gates]] and many others. InThrough ~~addition~~a talent partnership with Memo Flores of Jugaremos en Familia, ~~his~~''Sábado ~~show~~Gigante'' has ~~launched~~helped launch the careers of many famous entertainers, such as [[~~Sissy~~Lili Estefan]], [[Sissi Fleitas]], and ~~many~~numerous others . Kreutzberger appeared as himself in the movie ''[[The 33 (film)\|The 33]]'', about the [[2010 Copiapó mining accident]]. Immediately after the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]] the military sought after Kreutzberger. They took him to the vandalized house of [[Salvador Allende]], where corpses of guards were still on the floor. The soldiers asked him to report on the events. Kreutzberger declined the offer, encouraging the captain who had approached him to take the role of reporter himself.<ref>{{cite news \|last=Contreras \|first=Emilio \|date=13 July 2017 \|title=Don Francisco contó desconocido episodio vivido el día después al golpe de Estado de 1973 \|url=http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/2017/07/13/don-francisco-conto-desconocido-episodio-vivido-el-dia-despues-al-golpe-de-estado-de-1973.shtml \|work=[[Radio Cooperativa]] \|access-date=9 December 2017 \|language=es \|archive-date=10 December 2017 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210231933/http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/2017/07/13/don-francisco-conto-desconocido-episodio-vivido-el-dia-despues-al-golpe-de-estado-de-1973.shtml \|url-status=live}}</ref> ~~In [[1992]], Don Francisco was accused by one of his models of [[sexual harassment]], but the charges were dismissed.~~ ==Television career== Nowadays, he 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 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 Camara Viajera'', was becoming too strenous for him. Kreutzberger has also hosted Chilean versions of ''[[¿Quién merece ser millonario?]]'' (which is based on the original British format of the international ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]]'' franchise), ''[[Deal or No Deal (Chile)\|Deal or No Deal]]'', and ''[[Atrapa los Millones]]'' (which is based on [[Million Dollar Money Drop\|the American format]] of the international [[Million Pound Drop\|Money Drop]] franchise). He hosted the first three seasons of ''Atrapa los Millones'' before retiring from the program in 2014; [[Diana Bolocco]] became the host for the program's fourth season in 2015, and would eventually remain with the show until its cancellation. He voiced Governor [[Bernardo de Galvez]] in a 2003 episode, "The Great Galvez", of a [[PBS Kids]] show ''[[Liberty's Kids]]''. ~~[[As of 2002]], Don Francisco's show has completed 40 years, and its host has said he has no plans to retire until the day he dies.~~ On 18 April 2015, Don Francisco announced his show would come to an end in September after 53 years on air; ''Sábado Gigante'' aired its final episode called "Hasta Siempre" on 19 September 2015. On 1 March 2016, Don Francisco announced his return to the television and signed a multi-year deal with [[Telemundo]]. His first show on the network titled ''Don Francisco Te Invita'', a Sunday night talk show considered to be a spiritual successor to both ''Don Francisco Presenta'' and ''Sábado Gigante'', debuted on 9 October 2016.<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://deadline.com/2016/05/telemundo-nbc-universo-programming-plans-next-season-upfronts-1201755854/ \|title=Telemundo & NBC Universo Unveil Programming Plans For Next Season \|website=Deadline \|date=15 May 2016 \|access-date=19 February 2020 \|archive-date=11 February 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211171234/https://deadline.com/2016/05/telemundo-nbc-universo-programming-plans-next-season-upfronts-1201755854/ \|url-status=live}}</ref> The Telemundo show was canceled in late 2018 after the airing of 100 episodes.<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://www.elnacional.com/entretenimiento/television/telemundo-cancelo-programa-don-francisco-invita_245592/ \|title=Telemundo canceló programa de Don Francisco te invita \|date=26 July 2018 \|access-date=22 November 2021 \|archive-date=22 November 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122231533/https://www.elnacional.com/entretenimiento/television/telemundo-cancelo-programa-don-francisco-invita_245592/ \|url-status=live}}</ref> ==False death reports== On [[April Fool's Day]], 2003, a rumor arose that Kreutzberger had died, the rumor appearing around the [[New York (state)\|New York]] and [[New Jersey]] area. The rumor proved false, but distressed many of his fans until it was revealed that it was a joke and Francisco had not actually died. ==Personal life== Kreutzberger promoted and hosted the [[Teletón (Chile)\|Teletón]], a TV charity show for disabled Chilean children between 1978 and 2021; there have been 22 telethons over 30 years. He is also the Hispanic spokesperson for the U.S. [[Muscular Dystrophy Association]], in which he also appears in a pre-recorded piece on its annual [[MDA Show of Strength\|telethon]], to appeal to Hispanics to donate. He retired from hosting the show in 2021, at the end of that year's airing of the program.<ref>{{Cite web \|last= \|date=5 February 2021 \|title="Estoy cansado": la honesta respuesta de Mario Kreutzberger a minutos de que termine la Teletón \|url=https://www.t13.cl/noticia/teleton-2021/tendencias/cansado-honesta-respuesta-mario-kreutzberger-teleton-05-12-2021\|url-status=live\|access-date=8 December 2021 \|website=[[Teletrece]]\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208140745/https://www.t13.cl/noticia/teleton-2021/tendencias/cansado-honesta-respuesta-mario-kreutzberger-teleton-05-12-2021 \|archive-date=8 December 2021}}</ref> Kreutzberger was also the first host of the ''Teletón USA'' telethon, which was introduced in December 2012 on the Univision network; the event and charity is based on the popular [[Teletón (Chile)\|Teleton]] (Chile) the Chilean Teleton. ==Honors== His show was in world's longest running TV variety show, according to ''[[Guinness World Records]]''.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Longest running TV variety show \|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-3000/longest-running-tv-variety-show/ \|publisher=Guinness\|access-date=28 October 2012\|archive-date=21 October 2014\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021135439/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-3000/longest-running-tv-variety-show/\|url-status=live}}</ref> Kreutzberger has received numerous awards and a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] (on 7018 Hollywood Blvd.).<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://hwof.com/star/television/don-francisco/145 \|title=Hollywood Hall of Fame: Don Francisco \|access-date=1 June 2014 \|archive-date=15 November 2017 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115042955/http://hwof.com/star/television/don-francisco/145 \|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 March 2012, Kreutzberger was inducted into the [[Television Academy Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/mario-kreutzberger/ \|title=Archive of American Television: Mario Kreutzberger \|date=22 October 2017 \|access-date=22 April 2013 \|archive-date=23 July 2017 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723191234/http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/mario-kreutzberger \|url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 September 2015, the city of New York named a street in the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan\|Washington Heights]] district in honor of Kreutzberger, named "Don Francisco Boulevard".<ref>{{Cite web \|url=http://corporate.univision.com/2015/09/latin-times-don-francisco-boulevard-tv-personality-to-be-honored-with-street-in-new-york/ \|title=Latin Times: Don Francisco Boulevard – TV Personality To Be Honored With Street In New York \|access-date=13 September 2015 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925103859/http://corporate.univision.com/2015/09/latin-times-don-francisco-boulevard-tv-personality-to-be-honored-with-street-in-new-york/ \|archive-date=25 September 2015 \|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 11 April 2018, the Jewish Community of Chile recognized Mario Kreutzberger as "Javer Olam" (friend of the world)<ref>{{Cite web \|date=April 12, 2018 \|title=Comunidad Judía de Chile conmemoró el Día del Holocausto y entregó distinción a Mario Kreutzberger \|url=https://diariojudio.com/noticias/comunidad-judia-de-chile-conmemoro-el-dia-del-holocausto-y-entrego-distincion-a-mario-kreutzberger/267634/ \|website=Diario Judío}}</ref> ==Celebrity advertising== Don Francisco has been in commercials for [[La Curaçao]] Department Stores. He was even present for the opening of La Curaçao's [[South Gate, California]] and [[Arizona]] locations. He also appears in TV spots for the Mexican telecom company ''Claro''. In 2010, the U.S. [[Social Security Administration]] enlisted Don Francisco to appear in a series of [[public service announcement]]s to reach out to American Hispanics about the benefits of Social Security.<ref>{{Cite web \|url=http://www.latintrends.com/2010/12/14/don-francisco-talks-about-social-security-benefits-online/ \|title=Latin Trends: "Don Francisco talks about Social Security Benefits Online!"; no date. \|access-date=5 August 2011 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327231334/http://www.latintrends.com/2010/12/14/don-francisco-talks-about-social-security-benefits-online/ \|archive-date=27 March 2012 \|url-status=dead}}</ref> ==Lawsuit== In 1992, Kreutzberger was sued by one of his models for [[sexual harassment]], but the suit was settled out of court.<ref name=nyt /> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category\|Don Francisco (television host)}} * {{IMDb name\|id=0471053\|name=Don Francisco}} * [http://www.teleton.cl Teleton Foundation In Chile] * {{emmytvlegends name\|mario-kreutzberger\|Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco)}} {{2012 Television Hall of Fame}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Francisco, Don}} [[Category:1940 births]] [[Category:Chilean emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Chilean Ashkenazi Jews]] [[Category:Chilean people of German-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Chilean philanthropists]] [[Category:Chilean television journalists]] [[Category:Chilean television presenters]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Mass media people from Miami]] [[Category:People from Talca]] [[Category:Recipients of the Benemerenti medal]] [[Category:Chilean television talk show hosts]] [[Category:Chilean television personalities]] [[Category:Pseudonymous television presenters]]

Don Francisco (television host): Difference between revisions