Profile of Alejandro Dolina on Famous Like Me

Alejandro Dolina (born May 20, 1945) is an Argentine broadcaster, who also achieved renown as a musician and a writer.

Dolina was born in Baigorrita, Buenos Aires Province, and spent his childhood years in Caseros, a middle-class suburb of Buenos Aires city. He pursued music and writing since childhood. Although he steadfastly refuses to discuss his private life, he often recalls anecdotes about time spent in his youth in the company of musicians and professional gamblers.

In the early 1970s, Dolina made inroads into advertising copywriting and started publishing articles in Satiricón magazine, which was read for laughs but often provided deeper reflections on politics, society, and life in general. His main partner in this adventure was Carlos Trillo, who was also an advertising man and would later become a successful comics writer.

In 1978, with Satiricón closed by the military dictatorship, Dolina started writing in Humor magazine, which treaded much more carefully to avoid closure or an even worse fate. During these years, Dolina (himself a moderate Peronist) wrote about manly honor, love, friendship, and invented a mythology centered on the Gray Angel of Flores neighborhood, fictitious writer Manuel Mandeb, and Mandeb's coterie. These stories have since been published in the book "Crónicas del Ángel Gris" ("Chronicles of the Gray Angel") in 1987, and later morphed into a musical.

With the return of democracy in 1983, Dolina started hosting a successful radio show: originally named Demasiado tarde para lágrimas ("Too late for tears"), it was later changed, for contractual reasons, to its current name: La venganza será terrible ("Revenge will be terrible"). In 1991 he was nominated for the "TV or Radio Host" Konex Award for his work in the show.

The two-hour show was broadcast live Monday to Friday at midnight originally from the basement of the famous Tortoni Cafe. Due to security reasons, it was transferred in 2005 to the Bauen Hotel.

Dolina has two co-hosts: Guillermo Stronati and Gabriel Rolón. The show has four parts. In the first part he discusses historic or mythical events (Greek mythology is a favorite, with South American history a close second). They then read messages from audience and public present in the room. Then, humor kicks in full-tilt as he reads magazine articles and improvises stories that stray quite far from the article's intent. The show is closed by singing songs requested by the audience, accompanying himself on the electric piano. He has also made some TV shows, with less success.

Dolina has always been known for his vast knowledge of old-school tango, and is an accomplished pianist and singer himself. Still, he has refused to record as a solo artist, as he sees himself as not passing muster in this area. He did produce and sing in his opereta criolla "Lo que me costó el amor de Laura" ("What I paid for Laura's love").

An avid reader (a major influence is philosopher Miguel de Unamuno) and a very articulate speaker, Dolina has bypassed opportunities to achieve success in the advertisement milieu and in politics. His Peronist leanings and his embrace of the warrior ethic (as opposed to bourgeois morality) contrasts with the mainly left-wing liberal leanings of the audience, providing for an underlying tension that shows even in his funniest moments.

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