Arquímedes Rivero

Arquímedes passed away in the city of Miami, Florida, where he resided. He was 91 years old and began his career in Venezuela in 1959 in the radionovela. In 1969, he arrived at RCTV. From 1988 onwards, he also worked as a radio announcer for Venevisión, where he had a fruitful career as a telenovela producer.

Son of a military man and a housewife mother, from childhood he felt the desire to belong to the artistic world. By age fourteen, he was already a radio announcer.

In Havana, he worked in radio, both as a supporting actor and as a lead. One of the most important radionovelas he starred in was Pecadora, by author Rubén Romeu. He also acted in Cuban cinema in several films, the most remembered being Se acabaron las mujeres.

In the fifties, he left his native Cuba and arrived in Central America, to countries like Nicaragua and Panama. In those same fifties, he came to Venezuela. He began working at Radio Caracas Televisión as an actor.

In the year 1955, he spoke with Don Felipe Serrano, who was the owner of a small radio station called Radio Rumbos, which was among the lowest-rated stations. At that station, there were no radionovelas, they only used records. The ones competing for first place were Radio Caracas Radio and Radio Continente.

Arquímedes Rivero promised the owner of Radio Rumbos that he would take his station to first place thanks to a radionovela programming schedule. They started producing a few, and in a very short time, Radio Rumbos was already at the top of the ratings, becoming the first Venezuelan radio station with a programming of thirty daily novels, all managed by Arquímedes, with many of them starring him. Thus, emblematic titles are remembered such as: La Usurpadora, La virgen de los cerros, La más fea, El hombre que se reía del amor, El color de mi madre, El noveno mandamiento, El derecho de nacer and La cueva del diablo among many others.

He also starred in great adventure series, remaining forever in the collective memory of the Venezuelan public with titles such as: Martín Valiente, the Chinese detective Mister Chang and the famous Los 3 Villalobos.

During his long radio career, he was the recipient of the most important awards of that time, such as El Guaicaipuro de oro, El mara de oro, El Meridiano de oro, among many others.

From radio, he made his big leap to television as a producer. In the early sixties he created a lineup of four daily half-hour telenovelas on Radio Caracas Televisión.

Among those successful telenovelas were: La hija del dolor with Eva Moreno and Edmundo Waldemar. El engaño with Conchita Oback and Raúl Amundaray. La Huérfana with Carmen Julia Álvarez. El precio de un pecado with Chelo Rodríguez.

In that pleasant Caracas of the seventies, success would always accompany Arquímedes Rivero and it was at Radio Caracas Televisión where great telenovelas were made that marked an era for an entire country's audience. Thus, Arquímedes brought to television his great radio successes, and under his management, unforgettable titles were made such as: La Usurpadora with Marina Baura and Raúl Amundaray, La italianita repeating with Marina Baura and now accompanied by Elio Rubens, La indomable, again with the successful pair of Marina Baura and Elio Rubens.

The great phenomenon of that era; the telenovela Raquel, with Doris Wells and Raúl Amundaray, which lasted three years on air, becoming a true hit that crossed Venezuelan borders by being highly sold internationally. All these great stories, written by the great Inés Rodena, whom Arquímedes Rivero hired exclusively for RCTV.

With the arrival of the 80s, Arquímedes Rivero definitively left Radio Rumbos and began with his radionovelas now on a new station that was just starting: Radio Centro, where he once again gave voice through the best Venezuelan actors to countless radio melodramas. It is in those eighties where Arquímedes Rivero created new successes with other authors. Telenovelas like La Dama de Rosa and Señora by José Ignacio Cabrujas, were great successes in Venezuela, as well as internationally.

From his mind came the great casts of telenovelas that undoubtedly captivated the world like Topacio with a beautiful and debuting Grecia Colmenares and Víctor Cámara in the leading roles. Cristal with a young debutante named Jeanette Rodríguez and a very handsome leading man named Carlos Mata. Atrévete, with Caridad Canelón and Pedro Lander. Leonela, with Mayra Alejandra and Carlos Olivier. All those great works of overwhelming and undisputed success inspired by the great Delia Fiallo. Marisela, with Tatiana Capote and Franklin Virguez and its second part; Acusada, were also important audience phenomena.

His passion for acting did not diminish and he accepted acting in the telenovela Señora, an invitation made directly by the author of the drama, master José Ignacio Cabrujas. There, Arquímedes Rivero gave life to the stern and upright Judge Pantoja.

Also, Arquímedes Rivero showed he had a clinical eye for choosing actors. His long experience made him immediately recognize the talent of new generations. Thus, Arquímedes Rivero launched Catherine Fulop and Fernando Carrillo to stardom, protagonists of the very famous telenovela Abigail, by writer Alberto Gómez. He also put Mariela Alcalá and Jaime Araque as stars in another of the great sensations of the era; Rubí Rebelde, by writer Carlos Romero.

The overwhelming success of these productions did not take long to be felt internationally, and in this way, Cristal, Abigail and Rubí Rebelde literally captivated Spain. The Venezuelan telenovela, thanks to Arquímedes Rivero, became Venezuela's great exportable product. Venezuelan telenovelas were translated into countless languages.

With the arrival of the nineties, Arquímedes Rivero moved to Venevisión, where once again, success accompanied him and there, he created phenomenal successes that are still remembered to this day: Paraíso, Pasionaria, María Celeste, Mundo de fieras, Morena Clara, Cara Sucia, Como tú, ninguna, Peligrosa, Macarena, Adorable Mónica, Inés Duarte, secretaria, all of them romantic telenovelas that seduced an entire country and the world.

Once again, Arquímedes Rivero discovered the great figures of tomorrow. Without fear of making mistakes, he cast beautiful young women from Miss Venezuela, who at that time were a great surprise and today are important international actresses. Gabriela Spanic, Sonya Smith, Rosalinda Serfaty, Emma Rabbe, Natalia Streignard, among several others.

Arquímedes Rivero's successes were not limited to romantic telenovelas; under his management, Venevisión created great avant-garde stories and the casts of those telenovelas were chosen by him. Thus, emblematic titles were born such as: El país de las mujeres, Cosita Rica and Quirpa de tres mujeres.

Arquímedes Rivero's career is unstoppable and crosses borders. It is his talent and great mastery of the genre that led him to produce telenovelas in Miami. It is in the capital of the sun where these were born: La Mujer de mi vida, Enamorada, La Revancha, Secreto de amor, Gata Salvaje, Rebeca and Ángel Rebelde, all on Fonovideo in coproduction with Venevisión.

Venevisión decided to expand its horizons much further and in this way, the important and modern Venevisión Productións studios were inaugurated in south Florida, where Arquímedes Rivero once again created the casts of great and important telenovelas that have not only dominated the United States, but have been true phenomena in many countries around the world. In this new stage, Arquímedes Rivero brought together in multi-star casts names of actors and actresses of all nationalities. Thus, Venevisión Productións became the most important producing and importing company of telenovelas. Figures of the caliber of: Karime Lozano, Christian de la Fuente, Carolina Tejera, Scarlet Ortíz, Patty Álvarez, José Ángel Llamas, Sonya Smith, Gabriel Porras, Jorge Reyes, Mirela Mendoza, Tatiana Capote, Franklin Virguez, José Bardina, Julio Capote, Mariana Torres, Alejandra Lazcano, David Cepeda, Jorge Aravena, Eduardo Capetillo, Litzy, Lilibeth Morillo, Liliana Rodríguez, Marjorie de Souza and Juan Alfonso Batista, have graced the casts.

Arquímedes Rivero met in Miami with the most important telenovela writers and worldwide known successes came to light such as: Soñar no cuesta nada, Olvidarte jamás, Mi vida eres tú, Acorralada, Amor comprado, Valeria, Alma indomable, Pecadora and Sacrificio de mujer.

No one knows like him how to move, make laugh or make cry the great public of the world through melodrama. Arquímedes Rivero has dedicated his life to the industry of the tear-jerker. That is why he is known by all as: THE CZAR OF THE TELENOVELA.

As a television series director
1989: Maribel
1990: Adorable Monica
1990: Pasionaria
1991: Mundo de fieras
1991: Bellísima
1991: La Mujer prohibida
1992: Macarena
1993: Por amarte tanto
1993: Rosangelica
1994: Peligrosa
1994: María Celeste
1995: Morena Clara
1995: Dulce enemiga
1996: Como tú, ninguna
1996: Pecado de amor
1999: Cuando hay pasión
1999: Toda mujer
2000: Hechizo de amor
2001: Guerra de mujeres
2001: Más que amor, frenesí
2002: Las González
2003: Cosita rica
2004: Sabor a ti
2005: El Amor las vuelve locas
2005: Soñar no cuesta nada
2005: Se solicita príncipe azul

As a television series producer
1971: La Usurpadora
1976: Carolina
1989: La Revancha
1998: El País de las mujeres
2003: Cosita rica
2004: Ángel rebelde

As a television series actor
1988: Señora: Judge Pantoja