Gregorio José Germán Piniella Vázquez de Mella

Pinelli was born in La Habana. From childhood he learned to play piano and guitar. He was a musician in the Orquesta Palau. He took voice and repertoire classes. He did theater with his sister Sol.

A consummate announcer, host of radio and television programs, an artist in all four media: film, theater, radio and television. Pianist and variety singer.

For many years he immortalized the character Eufrates del Valle from the television comedy San Nicolás del Peladero. This character was brought to cinema by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea in his film Los sobrevivientes.

He was born on Obispo Street, corner of San Ignacio, across from the old Instituto de La Habana; he is a Sagittarius. From childhood he learned to play piano, guitar, and musical saw; he took voice and repertoire classes. He received a scholarship to study singing in Italy, but the money never arrived. He was awkward when speaking and felt embarrassed. He did theater with my sister Sol. She was his teacher.

German Piniella is Cuban but the son of emigrant Asturians. He changed his name to German Pinelli to make it more commercial for radio and later television.

Some of the Cuban TV programs that made him famous were "El palo encebado" and "El Show del Mediodia de German Pinelli". He is described in texts about the history of communications in Cuba as "the most important animator of Cuban broadcasting; journalist and comedian of great charisma". Carlos Bretón of Cuban TV said of him: "Who will surpass Germán Pinelli; no one else will emerge with his charisma and infinite culture, his mastery of the stage".

In 1967 he receives the Ondas Prize in Spain for best international radio announcer.

He acts in 1978 with Cuban film director Tomas Gutierrez Alea (well known for his film "Fresa y Chocolate"), in the film "LOS SOBREVIVIENTES (130')" with Enrique Santiesteban, Reinaldo Miravalles, Ana Viñas, Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera, Vicente Revuelta among others. The plot is as follows: with the triumph of the Revolution, a family from the high bourgeoisie decides to remain in the country. Its members suppose that things will soon return to normal, and they isolate themselves in a luxurious mansion to avoid all outside contact. In short, a sharp satirical comedy, which triumphed in Cuba and in competitions such as the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.

Announcer, actor and radio and television presenter of Cuban broadcasting. Germán Pinelli is considered one of the most cultured and versatile word professionals of Cuban media. His family of origin was made up of his two parents and five siblings. His father is a well-to-do Asturian businessman and his mother, born in Madrid, a woman of vast culture with studies completed at the Sapetter in Paris and later at the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, excels in the art of recitation.

Pinelli's inclination toward art is evident from early childhood. At just six years old he sings at the Teatro Nacional. He had a clear and firm tenor voice. According to testimony from his sister Soledad, his companion and guide in his artistic career, in 1920, when Enrico Caruso visited La Habana, he heard Germán Pinelli performing Cavallería Rusticana and the romance from Carmen and had words of praise for the young singer.

His first foray into mass media occurred when he was only 14 years old, on October 28, 1922. The then student of the prestigious Colegio de Belén sang over the radio waves, less than four months after the first radio transmission in Cuba in 1922. This transmission from the PWX of the Cuban Telephone Company took place from the capital's Teatro Campoamor, in what is considered the first musical remote broadcast of the station.

He stepped away from art to enroll in Law at the Universidad de La Habana, but in 1925 he abandoned his studies to accompany his sister Soledad on a tour throughout the Island, as part of the theatrical company in which she performed, sang and recited.

Previously, he had won a scholarship to study "bel canto" in Italy but never received the funds. Despite not having completed higher education, he learned several languages on his own (English, French, and Italian) and several musical instruments (guitar, piano, musical saw). He was part of the zarzuela company of Teatro Payret, with which he performed various works. He studied singing with Tina Farelli and Arturo Bovy, two highly recognized teachers of the time.

Despite his natural aptitudes, Pinelli saw his future career as a lyric singer frustrated by respiratory system problems. However, throughout his artistic career he frequently exploited his musical education.

In the early 1930s, he worked at various radio stations in the capital; among them, CMCB located in the "La Metropolitana" building in Habana Vieja; the CMBN and the CMK. He began his work at the CMQ station in 1933 as a writer of notes for its radio news program and two years later he was already working as editor and manager of four of its newscasts.

His debut as an announcer occurred in a midnight program dedicated to broadcasting recorded music. To work as an announcer he had to face the opposing views of Goar Mestre, owner of CMQ, who at first doubted his abilities for announcing.

Years later, in December 1937, he began as host of the popular program La Corte Suprema del Arte. From this participatory program, prominent figures emerged from the entertainment world. With the winners of the competition, known as the Estrellas Nacientes de CMQ, Pinelli directed and hosted multiple spectacles that were presented in theaters throughout the country. On these national tours, Pinelli also usually performed some characters; for example on February 28, 1939, during the staging of Cecilia Valdés at the Teatro Nacional, he played the role of "Gallego".

Among his most recognized skills was commercial announcing. In 1938, he was one of the most sought-after announcers. During 1942, he wrote a column in the newspaper Avance, titled CMQ por dentro, while doing work for the literary department of CMQ.

In his career as an announcer, some notable works include regularly announcing the program of the leader of the Orthodox Party, Eduardo Chibás, which aired every Sunday at 8 in the evening on the station itself, from February 1944 to August 1951. Although Pinelli did not do the announcing on the day Eduardo Chibás shot himself in the CMQ booth, he played a leading role in broadcasting the news related to this event.

Also memorable is his live narration of the Orfila massacre on September 15, 1947. Other historical moments featured the voice of the distinguished announcer: the opening of the Radiocentro building in March 1948 and, after the revolutionary triumph, some patriotic marches and the funeral of the victims of the sabotage of the steamship La Coubre.

His work on radio is truly intense during 1948. Some of the projects he worked on are: Buscando estrellas, Cascarita show, Radio revista CMQ, No lo digas and Entrevista de hoy, which remained on air until December 1952. He also worked on other programs such as Carnaval Trinidad y Hermanos (1950) and Pinelli en la calle or Habla Pinelli (1953), where he displayed his skills as an interviewer and journalist.

On December 18, 1950, when the programming of Cuba's second television station (CMQ Televisión, Channel 6) began, he demonstrated his talent by creating a new model for hosting television programs. On the day of the station's opening, when the script went missing, he was called to improvise and prevent the broadcast from being suspended.

The television medium offered him the opportunity to perform in other genres and roles. As a host, he did El show del mediodía (1951) and, together with José Antonio Cepero Brito, Aquí todos hacen de todo (1951-1960). He worked as narrator for Los Muñequitos (1952), Abecedario Zenith and Norge (1953), and Cine del ayer (1954).

After 1959, he starred in multiple regular television and entertainment programs. Among his unforgettable performances is the character Éufrates del Valle from the traditional customs program San Nicolás del Peladero, which maintained high popularity ratings for more than 20 years (between the 1960s and 1980s).

During that time he shared the screen with many of the great figures of Cuban radio, television, theater, and cinema. Among them can be mentioned Enrique Santiesteban, María de los Ángeles Santana and Enrique Arredondo. Germán Pinelli left his mark on cinema with the roles he played in the films Leyendas and Los sobrevivientes (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea) (1978). The latter also featured performances by Vicente Revuelta, Enrique Santiesteban, Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera and Reinaldo Miravalles.

He received numerous national awards and is one of the few announcers in Iberoamerica who received the Onda Prize twice, an award given to the best Spanish-language announcers, in recognition of his professional work. He died in La Habana on November 20, 1995 at the age of 88.