Tommy Muñiz

Lucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez, better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner. He is considered to be one of the pioneering figures of the television business in Puerto Rico. Although Muñíz was born in Ponce, he was raised in the capital city of San Juan where he studied. Muñíz developed an interest in the entertainment business thanks to his father Tomas and to his uncle and godfather Félix Muñíz, who also produced radio programs. Muñiz was a successful radio producer in Puerto Rico during the mid- to late 1940s. Five of his radio programs -comedies for which he was often the scriptwriter, sometimes with the assistance of Sylvia Rexach- would consistently earn a strong following, as judged by the attendance to personal presentations of the artists featured in them. He was responsible for introducing more than a dozen new artists to the media. He bought Radio Luz 1600 (WLUZ-AM) a radio station in Bayamón, Puerto Rico During the first years of commercial television in Puerto Rico, and after a brief period during which revenues from his radio productions trickled down, Muñiz opted to start producing television programs as well. During the 1940s, when radios where ubiquitous in Puerto Rican households, Muñiz's radio scripts then became increasingly successful, beginning with El colegio de la alegría, in which he performed along José Miguel Agrelot. This was followed by La familia Pérez, Adelita, la secretaria, Gloria y Miguel and ¡Qué sirvienta!, all of which featured him in some function. He was producer or executive producer for dozens of television programs and specials between 1955 and 1995. At one time in the early 1960s, five programs produced by Muñiz were in the top five television rankings in local audience surveys. One of the programs even spawned a 1967 film, "La Criada Malcriada", starring Velda González, Shorty Castro and Muñiz, among others. He is credited for producing most of José Miguel Agrelot's television programs during his career. He is also credited with discovering and promoting other television artists as well, particularly Otilio Warrington. In the 1970s he was the owner of WRIK-TV Channel 7 in Ponce.