German Pinelli

Who was German Pinelli?

German Pinelli was a Cuban journalist and actor.

His voice was first heard on the radio waves when he was 14 years old, and a student at the prestigious Colegio de Belén for boys, run by the Jesuits. The Freemasons were raising funds for their orphanage, La Misericordia, by putting on a show at the Campoamor Theater, and they invited young Pinelli to sing.

Thirty years later, his face would be the first to appear on Cuban television screens. Pinelli studied piano and guitar and was a musician with the Orchestra Palau. He won a scholarship to study bel canto in Italy, but never received the funds, so he remained in Cuba and studied theater with his sister, Soledad. When he first approached Goar Mestre, the CEO of CMQ Radio and Television studios, for a job, he was told “he did not have the voice for radio.”

The turning point in young Pinelli's journalistic career came with his daring live coverage of the fight between two rival gangs on the corner of Orfila Street. There, lying on the floor, he reported the bloodbath. After that, his place in Cuban Journalism was secured. This incident began his long and illustrious career.