Jaime Bayly
| 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).[citation needed]
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[edit] Early life
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.
[edit] Career
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 program, he apparently offended several personalities with his political opinions, and finally had to quit. Inspired by the experience, Bayly wrote a book, taking the title from 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.
On his U.S. program which airs on the Miami-based MegaTV channel, Bayly is well-known for his radical right-wing views which have included attacks against indigenous movements in Bolivia and Peru, support for the 2009 military coup in Honduras and attacks against the governments of Venezuela and Cuba. Bayly has constantly warned about Hugo Chavez trying to "form an empire" in South America. During the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, Bayly initially supported John McCain, stating that he believed McCain would be willing to invade Cuba and "hang the Castro brothers from palm trees." Bayly later switched his support to Obama when it became obvious McCain would lose the elections.
Bayly routinely mocks Bolivian president Evo Morales on his television show, calling him "mentally challenged," "ignorant" and makes fun of his heavy native accent (Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president in over 500 years). When the democratically elected Honduran government of Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by a military coup in June 2009, Bayly stated he "would not shed tears over the coup" and poked fun at Zelaya's appearance, labeling him "El Mariachi Zelaya." Since then Honduras has become one of the region's most dangerous countries for journalists as several reporters and activists have been assassinated.
[edit] Books
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 crippled. His characters are often heartless, and reflect moral ambivalence, which makes it difficult to identify with them.
- No se lo Digas a Nadie (Don't Tell Anyone) (1994); film by Francisco Lombardi in 1998.
- Fue Ayer y No Me Acuerdo (It Was Yesterday, I Don't Remember It) (1995).
- Los Últimos Días de La Prensa (The Last Days of La Prensa) (1996).
- La Noche es Virgen (The Night Is Virgin) (1997).
- Yo Amo a Mi Mami (I Love My Mommy) (1999).
- Los Amigos que Perdí (The Friends I Lost) (2000).
- Aquí no hay Poesía (There Is No Poetry Here) (2001)
- La Mujer de mi Hermano (My Brother's Wife) (2002), film by Ricardo de Montreuil in 2005.
- El Huracán Lleva tu Nombre (The Hurricane Has Your Name) (2004)
- Y de Repente, Un Ángel (Suddenly, An Angel) (2005), finalist of Premio Planeta
- El Canalla Sentimental (The Sentimental Jerk) (2008).
- El Cojo y el Loco (The Crippled And The Crazy) (2009).
- Morirás Mañana: El Escritor Sale a Matar (You Will Die Tomorrow: The Writer Goes On to Kill) (2010).
[edit] References
- ^ Rohter, Larry (18 August 1996). "Miami, the Hollywood of Latin America". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/18/arts/miami-the-hollywood-of-latin-america.html. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
- ^ "Jaime Bayly bio". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063121/bio?mode=desktop.
