The Pupi Campo Centennial

Born 100 years ago today, Cuban American singer, dancer and bandleader Jacinto “Pupi” Campo (1920-2011).

Originally a dancer in Havana nightclubs, Campo was called the “Ray Bolger of Cuba”, by virtue of his eccentric Latin moves. He put together his band during the Latin craze of the 1940s, when Vincent Lopez, Xavier Cugat, and Desi Arnaz also achieved popularity (he got his U.S. start by dancing with Desi’s band). Tito Puente was one of the musicians who got his start with Campo’s band, which played glitzy New York venues like the Capitol and Paramount Theatres.

Campo’s first was wife was his performing partner Diosa Costello; his second one was Betty Clooney, sister of Rosemary. Having made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, he and his orchestra became the house band for Jack Paar’s Morning Show from 1954 to 1956. After his departure from Paar’s show, he worked in Miami for a time, where his son Carlos Alejandro Campo (now the President of Ashland University) was born in 1958. The following year Pupi Campo appeared in Frank Capra’s movie A Hole in the Head, which was shot on location in Miami Beach.

In 1970 Campo moved to Las Vegas, where he was the inaugural act in the Cleopatra’s Barge room at Caesar’s Palace. He was to live and work in Vegas for the remainder of his life.

To learn more about show biz history please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous. And stay tuned for Vaudeville in Your Living Room: A Century of Radio and TV Variety, coming November 2023.