Mario Pabón

Mario Pabón, in full Mario Enrique Pabón Cantin (13 August 1930 – 27 November 1996) was a Dominican-Puerto Rican actor, director and show host. He was known for his work on Puerto Rican television and cinema.

Early life Pabón was born in Quisqueya, San Pedro de Macorís Province, Dominican Republic, the son of Melba Cantin Rovira (born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, to Oscar Cantin, a Swiss American from Louisiana, and Angelina Rovira Carbó, a Puerto Rican from Arroyo) and Mario Pabón Urrutia (from Llanos Costa, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico). At the age of thirteen, he and his family moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he enrolled at the Baldorioty de Castro High School in San Juan.

His family were wealthy landowners from the Dominican Republic who left the country during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.

Pabón later on moved to New York City, where he began studying engineering. However, his girlfriend, Puerto Rican woman Nelly Catala, suffered a fall on snow and she returned to Puerto Rico. Feeling lonely, Pabón returned to Puerto Rico to be with Catala after having won a singing contest which provided an airplane ticket to San Juan as a prize.

Mario Pabón died on 27 November, 1996, at the age of 66.