Fernando Hidalgo, a Cuban-born actor, TV host and comedian, died Tuesday in a Miami hospital of complications from COVID-19. He was 78.
His death was announced by David M. Matthews, who wrote, directed and produced Ernesto’s Manifesto, a 2019 feature comedy that starred Hidalgo as a sweet guy who loses his job, girlfriend and home before his life turns around.
In Miami, Hidalgo worked as a host, producer and/or sketch comedian on such shows as Los Casados Felices and El Show de Fernando Hidalgo. The latter played daily for 15 years and could be seen throughout South Florida, Puerto Rico, New York and the Dominican Republic.
After coming to Los Angeles, he was featured in The Master of Pulpits (2019) and in a Little Caesars TV campaign.
Hidalgo arrived in Chicago from Cuba with his family when he was 11 and hosted a Spanish-language radio program before settling in Puerto Rico. In the 1980s, he developed and starred in a version of The Newlywed Game in Venezuela and later had a supporting role on the TV comedy El Show de Lopez.
Survivors include his wife, Nereida, and children Fernandito, Marlon, Ronald and Shayra.
