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[dramatic music playing]
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[imperceptible]
[naming star signs in Spanish]
[Lin-Manuel Miranda] Growing up with Walter Mercado,
I just remember thinking how dramatic he was.
[imperceptible]
And how fabulous he was.
[audience applauding]
I can't think of an English language astrologer
that would command the attention of millions of households.
[speaking Spanish]
[Lin-Manuel] It was just Walter.
[speaking Spanish]
[in Spanish] The first time I saw Walter Mercado on television, it was a shock.
I was like, "What is this that I'm watching?"
If you can give love, if you can receive love? So what?
[Eugenio Derbez in English] It's a woman? It's a man?
It's a sorcerer?
[speaking Spanish]
[Lin-Manuel] It was just a staple of our childhood.
If you went to visit anyone, Walter Mercado was on.
And you would be quiet until you got to hear your sign.
[speaking Spanish]
[kids shouting]
[woman shushing]
[imperceptible]
[Raul de Molina] Walter was unique. He was different, he was a pioneer.
-[audience cheering] -Wow. Wow.
El señor Walter Mercado.
-[audience cheering] -[woman] Bravo!
...the gifted, the talented Walter Mercado!
[cheers and applause]
-Do you know who Walter Mercado is? -Of course!
Some people who speak English
do not understand how loved you are in the Spanish community.
You're bigger than Jesus Christ.
[crowd cheering]
He made me believe through the force of his oratory.
[in Spanish] Manifest exactly what you want.
Visualize exactly your dreams.
It will be yours.
[Lin-Manuel in English] I just think he's this positive force.
He's literally sending positive vibes through the television at you
one astrological sign at a time.
[Walter in Spanish] Follow your heart. Your heart is never wrong.
[in English] And then signing off con "Mucho, mucho amor."
Mucho, mucho, mucho, mucho... [kisses] amor.
Amor.
[Eugenio] But all of a sudden, he disappeared.
Many people were calling in and asking. They were asking me,
"Hey, what happened to Walter Mercado?"
I don't know.
I've lost contact with Walter.
I thought he was living in Mexico.
[in Spanish] I have a theory that
he didn't want to grow old in front of the cameras.
He's sick and he retired.
He lives in a mansion in Puerto Rico that's like a huge fortress
where no one can enter.
[in English] He died two times.
Two times.
I heard that he lives in The Grove.
Maybe he's an extraterrestrial.
Probably has his own planet somewhere.
[in Spanish] People say a lot of things and invent even more.
[Eugenio in English] Where is Walter Mercado? What happened to him?
We miss him. We really miss him.
[ambient music playing]
[soft instrumental music playing]
-[Walter speaking Spanish on TV] -[exotic music playing on TV]
[Walter in Spanish] These are old things, very old.
[woman on TV in English] The highly successful spiritual master
has established himself as a leading authority in astrology and mysticism.
[in Spanish] Look, Willie!
[woman in English] Walter Mercado guest-starred on many popular TV shows.
[Walter exclaiming]
[in Spanish] Look.
[speaking indistinctly on TV]
[in English] ...I made it available to you all.
Walter Mercado's exclusive International Psychic Society
has reached out...
It's very emotional for me.
Call now and you can experience the benefits...
[Walter] I think that the worst things sometimes are necessary to grow up.
[speaking Spanish]
I've had very, very, very difficult problems.
[speaking Spanish]
I suffered a lot.
I lost a lot.
[on TV] I'm here in the heart of Manhattan.
I want to tell you the story.
[clearing throat]
[singing indistinctly]
[humming]
Okay. I'm ready.
[insects chirping]
I was born in the country.
Around my home, there were lots of farmers...
People working, who were very, very, very poor.
When I was a child, I was very shy, insecure.
My mother was very overprotective with me.
And I was a dreamer. I was always dreaming.
One day, a bird fell in the yard.
And it was dying.
And I took the bird and I began to...
to... to pray and to... [blows]
giving life to that bird.
A neighbor was watching.
And I said,
"You're going to live, little bird. You're going to live."
And suddenly, the bird starts to flap its wings
and it starts to get better and it began to fly.
And the lady said, "Oh, this boy has the grace of God
to help, um... to heal people."
And began to talk about me.
People in the village would knock on the door of my house
and ask my mother,
"Oh, please, please let me see Walter."
So my mother put me in a little chair
and they began touching me.
Touch, touch, touch, touch, touch.
And then I turned into "Walter of Miracles."
[dog howling]
Since the moment I was born,
I know that I was not like everybody.
When I saw other boys, I know that I have another way of life.
My brother was all the time riding horses,
planting the sugarcane, leaving with my father.
And I stay with my mother, playing the piano and reading books.
Everything about me was different.
My mother said, "If you're different, go on being different.
Don't worry about that.
To be different is a gift.
To be ordinary is common."
I decided, at that time,
I'm going to fabricate, create a famous person in me.
And so I know that that push
is going to explode in something important.
[speaking Spanish]
My little doll.
Willie?
[in English] Yes, Walter.
-My vitamins? -Yeah.
These are the different multivitamins that Walter takes.
Salmon oil for the cholesterol.
Eyebright for the eyes.
Collagen peptides.
Cod liver oil.
Pycnogenols.
Hemp proteins.
My name is Willie Acosta,
and I'm Walter Mercado's assistant for many years.
Many years.
[interviewer 1] So you're like his right hand?
And the left one, too.
[in Spanish] Look what I got for Runo.
[in English] Pet wipes.
[laughs]
-My dog never stinks. -Stinks. He's stinky.
Never... No, he never stinks.
I came to Walter's life very young.
I'm still a young adult. [laughs]
But I was very young when I came to Walter's life.
[Walter] Willie belongs now to my family.
I have many nieces.
Ivonne,
Betty,
Bibi and Dannette...
and Carmensita and Charito.
[in Spanish] What's her sign?
[Carmen in English] Her sign is Sagittarius.
And she is Pisces.
[laughs]
[Walter] I love my family.
But Willie is with me always.
He assists me with my clothes, with my costumes.
[Willie] I do many jobs.
I assist Walter in everything that he needs.
I take Walter shopping.
I have gone to the movies with Walter.
[indistinct chatter]
We fly together to places.
We stay in the same hotel in the same room.
[Walter] He knows everything. All my secrets.
Very small secrets, of course...
-Thank you. -You have to eat cookies, too.
-They're good for the system. -You want to see me fat?
Not fat, but, you know, healthy.
-I'm so healthy. -I know you are.
I protect Walter from anything, from everything.
So don't get too bitchy with him.
Yes. [chuckles]
-No. No cookies for Runo. -No.
[Walter chuckles]
[kisses]
[lively Latin music playing]
[Walter] It was a tsunami of art in Puerto Rico.
Everybody was thinking about art.
In the University of Puerto Rico, I began dancing classes.
I just have a passion for dancing.
[vocalizing]
Puerto Rico was a little island,
and I was living 100 years in advance.
But I was dancing, and also at the same time,
I was acting and having a lot of plays.
After that, I became an actor in television.
[speaking Spanish]
I did a lot of telenovelas.
-[speaking Spanish] -[Walter gasping]
[Willie] Walter was doing a play in Puerto Rico called
called El tríptico de amor, dolor y muerte.
Elin Ortiz had a show in Telemundo
and he invited Walter to do the promo for the play.
Walter was dressed like a Hindu prince
with a beautiful white cape, a lot of makeup,
and Elin Ortiz told him, "No, we'll do the promo later on,
but, Walter, let's talk about astrology.
You're always reading the palm of everybody around here,
and you're always asking, 'What's your sign?'
and, 'What's your sign?' and, 'What's your sign?'
Let's talk about astrology."
I began to talk, but in a very improvised way,
from my heart.
For 15 minutes, I was in a monologue.
"Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, the Moon.
Leo, you are the Sun. Virgo, Mercury.
Libra, Venus."
So... [gibbering]
Nobody expect that.
[Willie] When the segment finished,
the general manager of Telemundo came downstairs running,
and said, "He has to do that show again tomorrow
because people are calling."
"The telephone lines are full,
so I need to see you tomorrow, here,
doing the same show today.
I want Walter Mercado every day, 15 minutes a day in this show.
And I want you with the same costume tomorrow.
I want Walter in capes."
After three months, he started the one-hour show
of Walter, las estrellas y usted.
[upbeat music playing]
[announcer speaking Spanish]
[dramatic music playing]
[in Spanish] And now the sign of Capricorn!
We have two paths, two human beings
and one important decision to make: make it.
You are beginning a cycle of good things: health, money, joy and love.
Have peace in your soul and love for everyone,
even for the unsufferable, for the critics and for religious fanatics.
Your whole life changes and you'll be happy.
Time will heal old wounds.
A change is coming, a move, a trip, something very favorable to you.
And it will be very fortunate. [continues indistinctly]
[in English] That show started August the 3rd, 1969.
And it became one of the top shows in Puerto Rico ever.
[playing jaunty Latin music]
[music stops]
[man speaking indistinctly]
Let's go. Three, two...
I'm Bill Bakula.
I never wanted to be on the stage or in front of the camera.
I always wanted to be behind.
That was my... my passion.
I've known Walter
since I was a young man watching him on television.
So I was flipping through channels one night...
[commercials playing indistinctly on TV]
[Bill] You're flipping fast and you stop...
Saturn returns. [speaking Spanish]
...because you saw this guy dressed like...
in all opulence.
[speaking Spanish]
[Bill] Rings and jewelry.
He made you stop. He had the "stop" quality.
[speaking Spanish]
[Bill] All of a sudden, you're engaged.
And when he got to your sign,
you identified with it immediately.
You said, "He's talking about me."
[continues speaking Spanish]
[Bill] So I made an appointment to get a consultation.
And it was incredible.
So I said, "Well...
is the consultation over?" He goes, "Yeah."
"Okay, now I wanna talk to you about something."
Under my arm, I had a bunch of storyboards.
And those storyboards basically depicted
a new television show for him.
Something fresh with a higher production quality.
Two weeks later, we were taping his first show.
[speaking Spanish]
[Bill] We did 10 one-hour episodes, 48 minutes,
in a weekend.
And Walter was on point.
[speaking Spanish]
It was the first program on television that was wholly dedicated to astrology.
[mystical music playing]
It was terrific.
It's kind of like a motivational speaker, you know,
that uses astrology to motivate people.
And people need motivation.
[in Spanish] Aquarius: You are a positive Aquarian.
Something important is that you're a go-getter.
You've broken barriers.
You've always loved creating, inventing, hustling.
You never freeze up.
[in English] In that moment, the people were hungry
to listen to some word of inspiration.
Maybe it was the right moment and the right occasion
with the right people.
Everything was right.
According to the stars, it was perfect.
[Bill] Every talent needs somebody behind them.
I was the coach for one single purpose:
Walter's message to get out to as many people as possible.
[Walter] When I entered the world of astrology, it was a boom.
It was a boom! Really a boom.
Walter was doing television, he was doing radio.
[Tony Hernandez] He would record daily horoscopes.
And would break them out across morning drive time.
[Walter speaking Spanish on radio]
[Tony] It's easier to tell you about
the markets Walter wasn't in than the markets Walter was in.
Probably about 150 radio stations carried his programming at his peak.
We started getting interest from places
that you never even imagined that there would be a Hispanic community.
[Bill] Next thing you know, Walter starts airing all throughout Latin America.
The next mission was Brazil.
Second largest market after the US.
Then we jumped to Italy, Holland, the UK.
[crowd applauding]
[Walter] Bill made me the most well-known psychic of this world,
the prophet of the new age.
Then I put everything I had, and everything I didn't have,
into crossing over into the general market in the US.
-[man] Wow. -[Howard Stern] Hey, Walter.
-How you doing? There he is. -[Robin Quivers] That's the outfit!
-[Howard] That's the outfit I see on TV. -[Robin] With the beads and everything.
[Bill] We got an invitation from Howard Stern.
[Howard] You're bigger than Jesus Christ.
-No. -[Howard] Oh, tell the truth.
-They treat me like Jesus. Like Buddha. -[Howard] Yes, see? Right.
[Bill] At first, I was hesitant about it.
But I knew that Howard was very much into yoga and Hinduism.
You know who was born on my birthday?
-Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. -That's true.
-[Howard] That is correct. -At the same hour like you.
-[Howard] Yes. -[Robin] The same hour?
You are working from the navel down, and he was working from the navel up.
-[snickering] -[Robin] Oh!
[Bill] Then he did Regis & Kathie Lee.
For him, I see a recuperation. A stress, he's having--
A recuperation?
-For your heart. -Yes, for your heart.
[Bill] Sally Jessy Raphael.
[Sally] A hundred-and-twenty million people
turn to this man for advice every day.
And all of a sudden,
the general market started to get who this Walter was.
I predict that you're going to be the greatest comedian
of the next millennium.
-He is! -[audience cheering]
[Bill] He landed a book deal with Time Warner.
It was called Beyond the Horizon.
Before we knew it, we had really penetrated all of the Americas,
from Canada all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
There used to be this newscast called Primer Impacto on Univision.
[announcer speaking Spanish]
[speaking Spanish]
And every day at 5:47 in the afternoon,
they would have the daily astrological forecast with Walter Mercado.
They didn't have the weather forecast, they had an astrological forecast.
[in Spanish] Walter is here to reveal the message of the stars.
WALTER AND THE STARS
[mystical music playing]
I want you to know that the signs are divided
into mutable, cardinal and fixed.
Pisces, you're mutable. You go with the flow.
[Maria Lopez Alvarez in English] We did it as a segment.
People love to hear their astrology. Now you'll get it on TV,
and we're gonna give it to you with none other than Walter Mercado.
And immediately it was a hit.
[Raul] For Primer Impacto at that time, he was a big asset.
I would say he was one of the biggest characters.
Not just with Spanish TV, anywhere.
December, the stars, and you.
Aries, your higher mind pushing you to new attainments,
to new heights.
Travel is okay.
I never dared to be traveling through the world,
or having 300 disciples in Brazil,
or 500 disciples in Colombia.
Bill opened many doors to me.
I met presidents, ambassadors, famous people.
Prime ministers, presidents from different countries,
came to Walter for private readings.
We saw his popularity just grow and grow and grow and grow.
[crowd cheering]
[Bill] He couldn't walk on the street or there'd be a mob.
[reporter] Everywhere he goes,
Walter Mercado is surrounded by legions of adoring, devoted fans.
I've been waiting since nine o'clock in the morning.
[crowd cheering and screaming]
I was in the eye of the eagle.
-[applauding] -[speaking indistinctly]
Hundreds of millions of people were watching his programs every day.
He almost became like a religion.
[crowd cheering]
[Maria] We were doing a segment on Primer Impacto.
We put him in the headlines and said, "And Walter is with us live."
We had people swarming out of the building in 15 minutes.
[fans clamoring]
People started wanting to touch him
like if he was holier than the Pope.
[Walter] Miami, New York, Panama, Colombia,
everywhere, everybody wants a piece of Walter.
[kisses]
[beads rattling]
Sometimes people say, "Walter you are very egocentric or narcissistic."
No matter how much money it costs, I always say, "You have to be radiant.
You have to be Walter."
Okay.
He has an augmented face that defies gender and maybe even age.
And his hair is a hybrid between
really good male hair from the '70s
and really good, glamourous grandma hair.
[interviewer 2] Have you had any plastic surgery done?
Little arrangement.
A special Botox like Nicole Kidman.
I'm just like Dorian Gray.
My picture is growing old, but I'm growing young.
For every show, I have a special cape,
or robe.
Some are very heavy.
Some are lighter.
Some are hand-painted.
Each one has a story.
[instrumental music playing]
[Willie] He was the first person to use capes with beads,
and makeup, dyed hairs.
A lot of jewelry.
[Walter] This is from one of the best designers in Brazil.
Very humble.
[interviewer 1] Wait. The bracelet is very humble?
[Walter] Yes. You like it?
Many designers started doing capes for him.
Versace did something for him.
Isaac Mizrahi,
Swarovski crystals,
sequins, rhinestone, pearls...
They cost a lot of money, but they were beautiful.
The message that Walter is bringing to you, he decorated.
[speaking Spanish]
[Walter] I am the picture, and the cape is the frame.
[speaking Spanish]
The cape covers me
and makes my image to go...
to the heart of my audience, of my people.
[instrumental music continues]
[Bill] He had his look, so did Elvis, so did Liberace,
so does the Pope.
If it doesn't look good, we're not even gonna listen.
[in Spanish] Thank you very much and don't miss Walter Mercado's outfit.
It's something like a pumpkin, a pumpkin about to smother him.
It's marvelous.
[mystical music playing]
Night of magic and mystery,
night where anything is possible,
where those we loved and loved us, return to the earth
to seek out the warmth of heart and home, of love.
[Nydia Caro in English] Do you know anybody else that looks like Walter,
or speaks like Walter, or dresses like Walter?
He's very much his own incredible creation.
He just broke the mold entirely.
Walter Mercado!
[audience applauding]
[Karlo Karlo] People are mesmerized by the beauty of Walter,
by the glamor of Walter.
[Walter] I want to look beautiful.
I want to look alluring.
I want to mesmerize people.
I study dancing, so I use my hands.
The people love all that kind of stupid things.
[speaking Spanish]
So, I used the stupid things to teach, to help, to serve,
to give a beautiful message of love and peace.
[in Spanish] Love is the reason for everything.
Love is the beginning and the end.
Love is the reason to live.
He broke many boundaries.
His whole look: his capes, the layers, the fabulous costumes.
Now it doesn't seem that strange.
But when he did it, it was scandalous.
And he did it anyway.
How are you doing, little animals of creation?
On this occasion,
-I'm anxiously awaiting today's guest. -[audience chuckling]
But he's had many problems because of the love of a woman.
In the '90s, they gave me my own show.
[audience laughing]
It was like a sketch show where I played different characters
and I immediately thought, "I have to do a Walter Mercado impression."
My impression has the same rings, capes, hair.
It's one of the most famous characters I have.
I think a big reason they love it is because it's based on Walter Mercado.
[speaking dramatically in Spanish]
[kisses]
[dramatic music playing]
-[yelps] -[audience laughs]
[Mireya in English] Walter was very beloved
and very much an integrated part of the culture.
[speaking Spanish]
-[exclaims] -[laughing]
[Mireya] But he would also get folded into gay jokes.
He was embraced and othered at the same time.
[speaking Spanish]
[in Spanish] Many of his imitations were meant to ridicule him.
He never liked being imitated.
You appear to be dressed a little bit like me.
Then don't do a bad imitation of me, because everybody does.
I would never wear those pants.
[laughing]
[Willie in English] When they see Walter and they make fun of him,
it's because they wish they could be like Walter. Yes.
-[in Spanish] What's your love sign? -[Walter] Scorpio, shut up...
He stings from behind!
And I sting from the front!
I'm like you, vice versa and versatile!
[all exclaiming and laughing]
[Karlo Karlo in English] The Latino community was homophobic.
I mean, especially '70s, '80s... I mean, still nowadays,
but back then, it was, like, much stronger.
And perception of masculinity was so square.
-[speaking flamboyantly in Spanish] -[audience laughs]
Growing up as a queer boy
and watching Walter Mercado...
gave me hope.
I saw Walter and I was like, "Okay, I'm not that different."
[applause]
Here you have a man on television
breaking all of these rules.
[woman in Portuguese] You have a very feminine look...
[continues in Portuguese]
[in Spanish] As a kid, over the phone people would call me Miss.
It never bothers me.
"Who is this? Hello, Mrs.--" "No, it's a Mr."
It doesn't bother me.
[in English] He has a very feminine energy.
He's an androgyne. He looks like a woman.
Sometimes, he looks like a man.
The people that, you know, they said,
"Oh, that's a queer" or, "That's a faggot"... I don't care.
He doesn't care.
Walter always takes a pill called an I-don't-care pill,
and I started drinking that pill, too.
And I use Vaseline
so everything's slippery on my body. [chuckles]
Whatever they say...
I use Vaseline.
[Mireya] Somehow, inside a misogynistic,
super-Catholic culture,
Walter could thrive.
We needed Walter in that landscape.
Arriba!
[all speaking Spanish]
[in Spanish] Are you heterosexual or no?
Let me tell you something, I respect sex as something sacred.
For me, sex is spiritual.
I'm married to my public, to my people.
Walter is very protective about opening up,
including with his family.
I've seen journalists try to talk about
his sexuality, his partners, his love affairs,
and they're topics that he just won't touch.
[interviewer 2 in English] You don't talk about sexuality or your identity.
Why is that?
Because I have sexuality with the wind... with the wind,
with the flowers in the garden,
with all the beautiful display of nature.
I don't need a person.
Especially to make me happy, to make me...
to have an orgasmic experience, no.
I have sex with life.
I have sex with everything.
With clothes, with beauty.
[Willie] People think that I'm his lover.
I don't know what they think. They think I have a relation with him.
And my relation with Walter is a very family relation.
I have never touched Walter with a finger.
Never in my life.
[Tony] I don't think Walter ever allowed himself
to be defined through his sexuality.
It was none of your business.
He always sort of, you know, straddled that line very carefully.
[Karlo Karlo] If Walter Mercado would've come out in the '60s, '70s, '80s,
I think it would've hurt his career.
Puerto Ricans say often...
[in Spanish] "What you can see, you don't ask about."
[in English] And I know, like, visibility is very important.
But not coming out stopped, perhaps, the homophobia from running wild.
[Ivonne in Spanish] There are things that are just so ingrained
from your childhood, from your family,
that play on repeat in your mind.
It's difficult to change them.
[Karlo Karlo in English] There are so many societal laws that he broke,
it goes beyond coming out.
You use a cape because you're a superhero,
and I see Walter as a superhero.
[Ivonne in Spanish] In terms of his open secrets,
I don't think he confirms or denies anything.
[interviewer 2 in English] You're not telling me Walter Mercado is a virgin?
You're not telling me that you're a virgin?
-The only one in town. -[both laughing]
[interviewer 2] Yeah, the only one in town.
[in Spanish] Here I have a tarot deck,
a special deck on such a special day in such a special month.
In the month of love, ladies and gentlemen.
For you, Aquarius, I've pulled a card of strength. Because you're strong now.
No one knocks you down,
no one destroys you, no one holds you back.
You're stronger than ever, Aquarius!
[Tony in English] I don't believe in these things.
That's just, sort of, my nature.
But I'll be honest with you, when you meet Walter,
and you have a chance to spend a little time with Walter,
you realize that there's something there.
Is that something divine? I don't know.
But it's quite unique, and I haven't...
I haven't come across it with anyone else.
[in Spanish] All of these terrible predictions people make,
all of these cataclysms, tragedies,
disasters coming with the arrival of the new millennium...
Nobody believe any of it.
Those who follow God, don't fear a thing.
[Willie in English] He planted in the mind of everybody
faith, belief, believe you're gonna be great.
You have to put faith.
If you don't have faith, you're never gonna get nothing.
[in Spanish] Virgo, what was once so ugly and sad, it all changes.
The waters will recede.
There will be a total change in your life.
So take advantage to realize
that which yesterday you didn't dare to do, Virgo!
[Bill in English] If you notice in all his content,
he never says anything negative.
Blessings.
[Bill] Never.
I think that's probably the key ingredient
to his success and his ability to communicate.
[in Spanish] Being a messenger of the Aquarian Age,
I bring you messages of light,
of love,
and of peace.
[Mauricio Zeilic in English] He would come out every day
and he would tell you beautiful things,
and everybody wants to know if tomorrow's gonna be a better day.
[speaking Spanish]
[Nydia] He's like a warrior.
I think his message was and still is...
to live with as much love as you can in your life.
-[audience applauding] -[music playing]
[in Spanish] Let's start by broaching
the most controversial questions about Walter Mercado.
-[Walter] All my life. -Uh-huh.
[laughing]
Why do you mix so many different religions?
Not just, for example, Santeria, primitive religions,
with Christianity, Catholicism, but all of them?
You mix them all and you solve people's problems, why?
No one has a monopoly on God.
It's ridiculous to think so.
It can be Chango or Santa Barbara. Who cares what you call it?
[in English] I got the best from the Buddhism...
[kisses]
...the best from Hinduism...
Lord Ganesha. Om.
...the best from Christianity...
I mix with all kinds of astrology.
I realized that all religions have a point of convergence.
I call it interfaith religion.
You have to be nice to people,
you have to give the best of yourself every moment of your life,
and you have to believe in yourself.
[in Spanish] Taurus, be strong, really strong. Insist, don't give up!
Insist until you accomplish what you want. The cosmos will gift it to you.
[Tony in English] I think Walter appeals to the masses
because he's able to connect with something that's missing
for a lot of us, particularly immigrants.
I think he gives us a sense of hope.
I think he gives people a reason to believe
perhaps that their lot in life
may have a chance of improving, uh, in short order.
And if you listen to him
and you sort of follow his guidelines,
it could be a road map towards a better and more fulfilled life.
[in Spanish] May God bless all of you, today, tomorrow and always.
[in English] My message is to give them the force inside themselves.
You can win. You can do that. Believe in yourself.
And that way, I'm helping people to be stronger.
[audience applauding]
[announcer] Have questions? Need answers?
Concerned about a loved one?
Need career or love advice?
Hi, I am Walter Mercado.
Thanks for making the Psychic Friends Network
the most popular psychic phone service in the entire world.
[Jody Vialy] In the early '90s, there were these 1-9-0-0 numbers,
and Walter's manager, Bill Bakula,
decided to do that for Walter,
so that people could call in and connect to him.
You take calls on the Circle of Power line no matter where you are?
Yes. I love to be in touch with my people.
[Bill] We created a traditional 1-9-0-0 psychic hotline
to great success.
[upbeat music playing]
[speaking Spanish]
[Bill] We were the only ones in the Hispanic market in the US,
and we were the pioneers to go out of the US.
[in Spanish] I won $9,000 at Indian bingo.
Thank you, Walter. Thank you.
[in English] Actually, in Brazil, he's not really known as Walter Mercado,
he's known as Ligue Já, and that means "call now."
Ligue já!
Ligue já! Ligue já.
[Bill] Before we knew it,
he had half a million subscribers and 4,000 psychics.
Four thousand people answering phones.
My psychics, for me, I don't believe, I know,
are the best in the whole world.
All of them are natural psychics born with the gift.
The gift to help, to empower other people's life.
I knew that that was... baloney.
It could be my housekeeper answering the calls, you know,
and making 25 bucks a call.
[psychic over phone] I see the two of you will be married
within two months of your baby's birth.
Married?
[gasps softly]
I never say, "You're going to win a lottery." Never.
Or, "You're going to have a husband in a week."
I never try to fool people. No, I never.
Only the International Psychic Society has predicted
winning lotto numbers, family reunions and success story.
[interviewer 2] A lot of these hotlines were scams.
-Well... -[interviewer] Critics would say
you were doing it to make money off of poor, desperate people.
But always they receive some kind of... uh...
words of inspiration or motivation.
[Maria] A lot of people were taking advantage of those 8-0-0 numbers,
and making millions.
Call me now for a free tarot reading.
And I can guarantee you Walter did not make millions on that.
Bill Bakula made millions on that.
Bill says, "Don't worry, these are up-and-up people.
Trust me, you'll be fine."
I'm not saying Walter was not in it for the money as well,
but Walter was more innocent and naive about it.
[Jody] Walter was not about business.
So, it was important to Walter to know
that somebody was taking care of business for him,
so that he could concentrate on what he did best.
Walter expected only good things
and ran into a world of trouble that he never saw coming.
[crowd cheering and whistling]
[both speaking Spanish]
[Walter] Bill Bakula was my angel.
In one moment in my life, he was sent by God
to make me and my message of love understand and be known.
He was very smart. He was the master.
Walter had tremendous affection for Bill, and trust and love.
Bill became almost like a son, I would think, to him.
[Betty in Spanish] Bakula gave Walter very expensive gifts.
He would arrive at a hotel and he'd have a room totally lined with white roses.
[in English] Twenty bunches of roses.
Twenty, every day.
[Ivonne in Spanish] It was very extravagant.
[Walter in English] He would say, "Walter, you can't eat rice and beans.
No, you have to eat caviar
and you have always the most exquisite food."
I had my own airplane. Everything was excellent.
I loved those things.
[in Spanish] Walter likes to please everyone.
[Betty] Mmm-hmm.
So if you're kind to him,
he will try to please you.
[in English] I don't ever remember hearing Walter say no.
He's not that type of personality.
Inside, he's a little boy that just wants to be loved and respected.
Walter would do what Bill would ask him to do.
He was almost like, "Okay, if I have to do it, I have to do it. Okay!"
Okay.
-[in Spanishi] Here? -[in English] Okay.
Okay.
[in Spanish] "On my way!"
[in English] Okay, no problem.
[in Spanish] He had this power to bewitch him,
to wrap him up in promises.
And Walter is so fanciful, he had him hook, line and sinker.
[Walter in English] One night I asked the lawyer to come to my house
and I said, "I have a contract for something quite important.
Read it very well."
And he said, "Okay, I will do it."
The next day, he say, "Sign it, it's perfect."
And I don't even read the contract.
[Maria] Walter just signed what he was asked to sign.
He didn't have someone really looking out for him.
The lawyer who reviewed it didn't really properly advise Walter
on the scope and nature of the contract.
So, Walter blindly signed the agreement.
[in Spanish] That's where the problems began.
[soft guitar music playing]
[in English] They seemed to have a nice friendship, a good business relationship,
and so Walter trusted that what Bill Bakula was doing for him
was in his best interests.
[in Spanish] Remember that the artist is never a businessman.
An artist is always thinking about his art,
how he's going to look,
how he's going to impress his audience that day.
[man in English] Five, four, three, two...
[speaking indistinctly]
At that point, my communication with Walter ceased,
and Bill became my main contact.
For Bill, these things were transactional.
It was about, you know, how can I maximize revenue?
Walter was being advised by some of his family members,
who made him realize
that there were some issues with the relationship.
When family gets involved in the businesses of an artist...
vey seldomly it works well for the artist.
He tried to sell all my old material.
He was recycling old horoscopes
and running it as if it was current.
It was not right.
I have to be very honest with my people.
But I couldn't stop him
because under the new contract, he had control of all materials.
[Carlos] The contract gave everything:
his name, his likeness, his image, to Bill Bakula.
Both parties were represented by competent attorneys.
Both parties understood the contract and he got paid.
He got paid according to the contract.
[Carlos] There was no timeframe for the agreement.
In other words, this thing would last forever.
There was very little room to even attempt to terminate the agreement.
It gave really no benefit to Walter.
[Walter] He's the owner of all my decisions,
of everything in my life.
He owns my life.
And then he stopped paying. He stopped paying.
Wilma says, "We need the money. We need the money.
And they are not sending the checks."
[in Spanish] Walter continued to record his program and comply with the contract,
but the money wouldn't come.
[speaking Spanish]
[Ivonne] So at that point, Walter cancelled the contract.
But Bill said the contract was for eternity.
[Walter in English] When I discovered that my contract
is so difficult to deal with,
I tried to repair and to talk to him to make a new contract and go on.
[Bill] We paid him to buy his business, not to rent it.
He sold his name. He sold his brand.
But there was a disagreement of how they viewed things
and the black letter on the contract.
So, we went to court.
Everything began to... [imitates crumbling noise]
Yes.
Our claim for damages against Walter was just $1.
We didn't wanna hurt him economically,
we just wanted the world to know that we were right.
That's not true.
Actually, Bill Bakula was looking for Walter to pay
about $14-$15 million in damages.
It was a nightmare of many problems, injunctions and...
It was a real nightmare.
[somber orchestral music playing]
At that point, Walter was not allowed to do anything
because Bill Bakula owned his image.
And so, unfortunately, we had to pull Walter from the show.
[Wilma] It was very shocking that, in the court,
they would give Walter's name to somebody else.
I've never seen anything like that happen in the world,
that you could give your name over to another person as a trademark.
When you try to explain to people,
"No, he lost the right to his name
and he cannot be on TV,"
people, like me, couldn't understand that.
[Carlos] There was a pretty severe financial impact on Walter.
He was not receiving any funds.
He was really unable to transact any business during that period of time.
It was difficult for him.
We brought in our own lawsuit to do away with the agreement.
[Maria] I was asked to appear in court.
And they had Walter and Bill Bakula in the courtroom,
one on one side and one on the other side,
and they were looking at me intently. [chuckles]
[Walter] It was like a fight between two forces.
This was a war. A war.
[in Spanish] In the first lawsuit, one part Bakula won
and another part Walter won,
so then we had to initiate another process.
So we stayed sort of in limbo.
[in English] He would have lawyers in Mexico, lawyers in Argentina,
lawyers in Puerto Rico, lawyers in Miami.
To be in a court fighting with the people that you love
is difficult for me.
And I had to face facts.
That was a difficult time, yes, very difficult.
It was hard, yes.
And Walter is very sensitive. He's a very sensitive person.
I've never regretted anything in my life.
Regret, that's out of the dictionary.
There are no regrets.
Ultimately, the jury determined
that Walter had interfered with those contracts,
but that there was no damage suffered by Bill Bakula.
So, Walter was returned all of his rights,
his name, his image, his likeness,
which is what Walter ultimately wanted.
It was a long, hard battle, and, um...
the consequences were severe for us,
and for Walter, above all.
[in Spanish] Six years he fought.
Six lost years, during which he lost millions of dollars.
[in English] Emotionally, it affected him tremendously.
I think... I think, eventually, it affected him physically.
I do believe Bill broke Walter's heart.
In the beginning, Bill was his angel,
and towards the end, Bill was his devil.
[smacks lips]
When I get to the hospital, Walter was dead.
There was no... no vital signs at all.
[in Spanish] I was clutching the Bible, praying to God.
[Willie in English] He has three arteries that were clogged.
[interviewer 2] Were you worried that this was the end?
Yes. Yes.
He was so tired of fighting.
He was tired of so many things, you know.
[in Spanish] Stress was the principle cause of the heart attack.
In Puerto Rico, there wasn't much help for him,
so he was moved from hospital to hospital.
[Betty] You see him fighting for his life.
We're going to do everything in our power.
Let's air lift him.
You don't know what's going to happen, you don't know if he'll make it alive.
[Ivonne] We arrived in Cleveland at five in the morning.
[Walter in English] My consciousness was coming and going.
It's a very strange feeling.
[in Spanish] I opened my eyes and I saw...
[in English] ...beautiful eyes, blue eyes,
blonde hair, a boy, a girl,
another boy, another girl.
And I said, "Oh, my God, they are angels. I must be in heaven!"
And Ivonne says, "Walter, wake up, you're not in heaven.
You're in Cleveland."
[in Spanish] He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks.
They put in stents and he started to recover.
Thank God, he recovered.
Walter has always been there for us.
At some point, he won't be here, physically.
I can't imagine life without him. At all.
[pensive music playing]
[soft piano music playing]
"THE MESSENGER OF THE STARS"
[smacks lips]
[mutters indistinctly]
[Ivonne] It's got to be a serious blow for him.
He would like to be present
on the TV and reach his audience again.
It has been a loss for him.
But he is very concerned about his image.
He wants to project fabulousness
because that has been the figure he's projected to the public
with his outfits, his sumptuous style.
And then not being able to do it with the same energy he's used to...
-[coughs] -[speaking Spanish]
[Ivonne] It makes him very anxious because he wants
to show his best face to his audience.
[Willie in English] Set.
[Betty in Spanish] Sometimes he'll ask me,
"Do you believe in reincarnation?"
And, "What do you think about death?
What happens afterwards?"
[Walter] How depressing.
[Betty] As soon as we start talking and the conversation gets going,
he stops and doesn't want to talk anymore.
[Walter] Which side?
[kisses]
[Betty] He says he's eternal, that he'll live 120 years or more.
[Walter] Okay.
-[speaking Spanish] -[audience cheering]
[Walter exclaiming in Spanish]
Walter, did you ever think you'd reach this level of fame?
No, I'm a Puerto Rican country boy.
And you never thought about making a movie of your life?
I don't want a movie yet.
Because people wait until you're dead
to tell legends about you. I don't want legends!
I still have a lot of years left to live.
[audience applauding]
-To the theater! -[speaking Spanish]
[Walter in English] Look at that. It's beautiful.
[in Spanish] I did many productions here, many.
This is where I got the biggest applause of my life.
[in English] We play here a lot of dramas and comedies.
And the Ponce audience was terrific.
Pam-pam-pam-pam!
It was very, very, very good.
The atmosphere, the air, the energy's terrific.
All the opening nights of all the ballets,
Midsummer Night's Dream,
La Sylphide.
I have a lot of memories.
I was a leader, breaking rules.
I'm breaking norms. I'm breaking forms.
Yes, all my life.
[clapping rhythmically]
Huh!
[speaking Spanish]
[in English] It was a big theater.
It was so beautiful. It still is beautiful.
La Perla means a lot to me.
And to all the Ponceños.
Do you remember beautiful moments of your life?
But it was in the past.
I would like to do it tomorrow. [chuckles]
I would like to go on doing things.
[clears throat]
Okay, let's walk.
[Lin-Manuel in Spanish] Thank you.
[elevator beeping]
-[in English] This is very weird. -[laughing]
[speaking Spanish]
You know why it's weird? It's because he just lives in the TV.
I don't know anything about Walter Mercado
other than him telling me about my day and my life.
So it's like, we're gonna go inside the TV?
That's honestly how I feel right now. [laughs]
-[Walter] Boricua! -[Lin-Manuel] Boricua!
[Walter] Welcome!
Take a good look at that beautiful man.
Best smile. Beautiful man.
[in Spanish] The honor is mine...
-[in English] This is crazy. -[all laughing]
[Lin-Manuel] If you talk to anyone my age,
we grew up with him.
He is this iconic figure to us.
El señor Walter Mercado.
[audience cheering]
[woman] Bravo!
[Lin-Manuel] In retrospect, there was really nothing else like it
on Spanish television.
He was like an oasis.
It's like gossip show, gossip show, gossip show...
"Shut up! Walter Mercado's on." [chuckles]
The people in Puerto Rico love you so much.
[Lin-Manuel] They love you more.
They love you. They love you. We've always loved you.
This is very, uh...
It feels very surreal.
I... I'm very emotional because...
[in Spanish] I grew up watching you with my grandmother.
-We watched you every morning. -Oh!
I remember walking into the room and my grandmother saying...
Shh, shh, shh.
-No, no, no, but... [shushing] -[laughs]
-"They're getting to Sagittarius!" -Capricornio.
-[all laughing] -Capricornio.
And later I would...
[in English] So we'd sit there...
[in Spanish] And we would wait for Sagittarius and Capricorn.
[in English] He is this fabulous being unto himself
in capes and makeup.
My cape.
I was three times in the Puerto Rican Parade.
[Lin-Manuel] Through Walter Mercado's existence,
we have a greater acceptance for people around us.
-[Willie speaking Spanish] -[Lin-Manuel] Oh, my God.
We love him without questioning anything.
And he has a great moral authority.
In that way, he's absolutely a pioneer.
It's gonna be weird when I wear this
-instead of my Hamilton costume tomorrow. -[all laughing]
-[Walter] Take your natal chart with you. -[Lin-Manuel] Yes.
I want you to know that you have in me
a friend and an admirer.
[laughing] I'm gonna start crying.
-[Walter] You can't believe it? -I can't believe it.
I can't believe what's happening. This is incredible.
[in Spanish] Thank you.
-No, thanks to you. -[kisses]
[in English] You're a light in our lives.
You are. [in Spanish] Incredible.
[camera shutter clicks]
"Lots of peace and lots and lots of love..."
[upbeat Latin song playing]
[in English] Millennials know
perhaps maybe more about Walter Mercado than I do.
I've seen the memes.
Imagine there was, like, a 20-year-old right now
who was like, "I'm gonna read you your horoscope.
I'm nonbinary and asexual."
They'd be the biggest thing on Instagram.
[Ivonne in Spanish] There's a phenomenon that I can't explain.
We don't understand why
so many young people love and admire him
when they haven't been able to see him on TV in years.
[in English] Had the Liberace swag on a million. You know what I'm sayin'?
Look at that shit, bro. The cape game was immaculate.
Lookin' like my grandma's drapes.
[upbeat Latin song continues playing]
He's so nostalgic. He represents moments where we're hanging out
with our abuelitas, with our moms, with everybody.
You could put him on a coin, you could put him on a T-shirt,
and we would all be like, "Oh, I know that."
Walter Mercado is from my family's hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Eh!
So, I had instant appreciation for him.
You wanna go in there?
And here it is, the masterpiece itself.
Everybody takes pictures.
I have to tell the men not to go into the ladies' room
because everybody wants to see the bathrooms.
[interviewer 1] Do you believe in astrology?
Uh... I believe in Walter.
I believe in anything Walter does and says.
[Bobby Gilardi] We have a cocktail named after Walter Mercado.
You get this, like, smoky floral note.
Kind of represents what is
mysterious and enigmatic with Walter Mercado.
I'm happy to see that Walter Mercado is still relevant.
He is still an icon.
"BUT ABOVE ALL LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE"
[Willie in Spanish] The HistoryMiami Museum has planned
to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of what was
The Walter Mercado Show
and your role in the world of astrology.
[Walter in English] It's a moment of celebration of my whole life.
I'm an ageless personality.
But according to the chronological time of the shows,
it takes 50 years of fabulousness,
of excitement, of exoticism.
[instrumental music playing]
[Walter in Spanish] If we invite everyone in Miami who knows and loves me,
I will need to invite all of my jewelers, perfumers... everybody.
It will be a big scandal.
We're anticipating having about 200 guests.
We have on the list of guests
your friend, Julio... Julio Iglesias.
[in English] But also Gloria Estefan, Emilio...
[in Spanish] ...and their son, who are my good friends.
And "The Beast."
"The Beast" needs to be there.
[Ivonne] Who is "The Beast"?
[Walter in English] The most famous perfume dealer in...
-[Wilma] In Miami? -Yes.
-[Wilma] La bestia? -La bestia.
He's terrific.
He's a beast in perfumes.
[lively Latin music playing]
[photographer in Spanish] Beautiful!
[Ivonne] This photoshoot today is to promote
the exhibition at the HistoryMiami Museum.
[photographer] Show me some face...
That's what I love.
Beautiful!
That's it.
And now, George, tell him to put his hands like this.
Do you want a little break? Let's take one.
Because that thing must weigh...
[Walter] I understand.
How much does one of those capes weigh?
They must weigh a lot.
Like 15 pounds.
Dude...
He has a pinched sciatic nerve,
and it's making the movements difficult for him.
I have some capes that are crazy heavy... but this one weighs like 15 or 20.
[Walter in English] To be on television,
you have to be very well-dressed, prepared, planned.
It's work.
I demand too much of myself and it demands much energy.
And it's exhausting.
[slow piano music playing]
[Willie] Right now, he's suffering.
He has terrible pain.
He hurt himself.
[in Spanish] He gets tired. He gets tired because of his age.
[Ivonne] He wants to keep doing a lot of things
that now aren't so realistic for him to do.
Let's do another.
-[Walter] One more? -Yes.
[camera shutter clicks]
[Walter] That one weighs a ton...
and it's double.
[interviewer 2 in English] Would you describe this era of your life
as being in "semi-retirement"?
No, never! I will never retire.
I'm going to die with my boots on. [snickers]
What are you saying, retire?
I will never retire.
I'm full of energy.
I'm 20 years old and I began a new journey
in the life of a hero.
[camera shutter clicking]
[soft orchestral music playing]
Life is so short.
I'm Walter, a body.
But more important than the body,
my spirit and my message is going to be eternal.
[photographer] Mucho mucho... amor. [chuckles]
[Walter clears throat]
[speaking Spanish]
I was in the office and he called me on the phone.
And he said, "Please come, I fell down."
And apparently he got tangled up with sheets.
So when he got out of the bed, he fell.
Three of us went running and untangled him.
But then he went to take a bath and he slipped and he fell.
And Willie said he heard how hard he hit himself against the floor.
He had black and blues on his back.
[voice shaking] It's hard for all of us.
You know, we've never seen him like that.
[in Spanish] Take a look, Jesse.
Thank you, Jesse. Many thanks.
With all my heart, thank you.
You've made my life happy.
After we took him for tests and we saw those first X-rays,
uh... the diagnosis was that he had fractured a rib
and part of the dorsal vertebrae of his spine.
In addition to the fracture he has on his pelvis.
I'm taking it easy, but it's driving me crazy.
Nothing scares me and nothing stops me, so...
Sometimes I'm in pain, sometimes I'm not.
Yesterday, I was in tremendous pain.
[Ivonne] Being in front of the cameras gives him energy.
Do you want more light? Less light?
[interviewer 1] It's okay how it is.
How do I look?
[in English] Not "okay." You have to check.
[in Spanish] Just like the cameras and the filming
and the lights gives him energy,
his public gives him even more.
[rolls tongue]
[Ivonne] Even though he has a fracture and even though he's in pain,
he's definitely going to go to the event in Miami.
He's going to be there.
[in English] Oh, my goodness.
[instrumental music playing]
[imperceptible]
[man] Hi, Walter. How are you?
[both speaking Spanish]
[indistinct chatter]
[both speaking Spanish]
[in English] This is our second home. Miami.
[woman] Oh, my gosh.
[woman speaking Spanish]
-Muchas gracias. -[both speaking Spanish]
-[in Spanish] How does the song go? -What?
"And you, and you, and you..."
It's like, "May the skies..."
[all singing in Spanish]
♪ I care about you And you and you ♪
♪ And no one else but you And you and you ♪
♪ I care about you And you and you ♪
♪ And no one else but you... ♪
[all continue singing in Spanish]
["Piel Canela" playing]
[Willie] Who's coming now? Who's coming?
-[woman] Right now, Primer Impacto. -[Willie] Primer Impacto.
Okay.
[host] Look how privileged we are, ladies and gentlemen,
to be with Walter Mercado today.
[in English] I'm here with Walter Mercado. I don't need to introduce him.
I would like to ask you about this incredible exhibit.
[in Spanish] It's been 50 years in front of the lens.
What does it mean to you, to share with your public?
It's so they get a little of the flavor...
and the fragrance, the essence of Walter Mercado.
[in English] Walter is not only the cape, or the hair, or what they think.
[in Spanish] Walter Mercado is a force of nature.
Would you return to Primer Impacto, Walter?
I don't know because some things belong to their era.
[host] You were an actor, a singer, a dancer...
Keep going, keep going, it's all true.
What is your message to Hispanics?
That every day we should be more united, more heart.
Diversity makes us stronger.
[camera shutter clicking]
[clears throat] It's a shame that I woke up without a voice.
I don't know why, but I have many ailments.
I have sciatica, too, but I told myself, "You can't ever miss Jorge Ramos!"
But then one says to oneself, "You have to be healthy first in order to get sick."
In other words, you're doing well?
Of course I'm well!
-And with tremendous energy. -I know.
Can I say your age? 87?
-No! No! -[laughing]
[Walter] Between 50 and death, and that's it.
That seems extraordinary to me.
[Jorge in English] So, let me ask you...
I am agnostic.
When we die,
I don't know what's gonna happen.
That's good. You will have surprises.
[Jorge] I hope that we have surprises.
And I hope that I'm wrong.
When we die,
what happens, Walter?
The body, which is just a house or a cage,
you begin from earth, to return to earth.
You are just atoms and molecules, but there is inside you
something eternal, immortal.
[Jorge] Eternal?
So you think that we'll be there without our body?
Yes, until you are reincarnated.
Because I believe...
Not believe. I know that there is reincarnation.
[in Spanish] Are you going to die in Puerto Rico?
-Wherever they catch me. -[both laugh]
It's that death doesn't worry me that much.
Really?
It's a topic I don't like to broach because
we all know we're going to die someday.
The day you're born they mark a document saying you'll die someday.
Is there someone? A god?
Who tells us what is going to happen?
God is in there, God is in here.
The God that is in me... [kisses]
salutes the God that is in you.
The Namaste.
You know I can't end the interview
without asking you to do your "with lots of love" thing.
May God bless all of you, even though he doesn't believe in God...
May God bless all of you...
today, tomorrow and always.
And may you receive from me always...
a lot of peace.
But above all, what?
A lot, a lot, a lot, a lot... of love.
[applause]
[Walter in English] I'm in the front page.
Look at that.
My capes in the museum.
I'm happy tonight.
I'm flabbergasted.
I'm bombarded with many beautiful words.
Everybody's talking about tonight.
And I have all my family here.
[Willie] Yeah, okay. My bad.
[Walter in Spanish] What do you think? Is it too big?
[in English] A little big?
[woman in Spanish] Very humble. It's very you.
[in English] When I wake up in the morning,
it's the first morning of my life.
Today is my day.
Today, I'm going to be the best version of Walter.
Life is a constant reinvention.
I never rehearse to be myself.
[interviewer 1] Are you ready for your close-up?
I'm ready... [clearing throat]
I'm ready for my close-up.
[in Spanish] Don't film my chair.
[in English] Don't shoot.
Only the upper part of the body.
[in Spanish] This way, Walter.
[instrumental music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[in English] I've never been in the same room with Walter.
I look forward to that. We're all here for him.
Hi, Walter.
Gracias. Mucho, mucho, mucho amor.
Mucho, mucho amor.
[all] Mucho, mucho amor.
[muffled music playing]
[in Spanish] It's hot. I'm telling you it's a little hot.
It's hot.
-There's no more room for people? -What?
There's no more space?
No, no more space. They're not letting more people in.
-[lively chatter and laughter] -[upbeat music playing]
[in English] This just in. We are dying of heat waiting for Walter Mercado.
Music's playing...
[in Spanish] ...but he's nowhere to be found.
[in English] Haven't seen him. We're super fangirling.
[in Spanish] The homage to Walter is about to begin.
I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen.
I feel emotional and happy.
[in English] I don't know what his energy level will be right now,
but we're super excited.
[both] So excited.
Ah! My God. [laughs]
[woman] You have to sit on the throne now.
[in Spanish] But they have to do the dance first and all that.
-[man] But he has to be seated already. -I know.
[dramatic choral music playing]
Now? Should I get on it?
[dramatic music playing]
[woman in English] Okay, Walter, let's go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[cheering]
[woman screams]
[crowd cheering]
[man] I know that I look really calm,
but I'm about to freak out because...
[gasps]
[camera shutters clicking]
I watched when I was a kid. I love you.
[in Spanish] I love your vest!
-You like it? -I love it!
I follow you from Spain.
Wow!
Like a good Cancer, I always listened to you.
[in English] You're so beautiful!
[in Spanish] Thank you... I'm a Scorpio.
[in English] Okay, next.
[in Spanish] Bless them for me please, for the photo.
[kisses]
[Walter] For me...
it was the most beautiful and memorable moment of my life.
[crowd cheering]
-[rain pattering] -[Walter exclaims]
Look at that!
My God...
What good publicity!
It's all beautiful... my hair... It's all beautiful.
[in English] Beautiful.
[in Spanish] Look at this one. How beautiful.
Look at the photo of my family when I was a child.
Oh, my God.
-I don't think I'm in this one, Willie. -Where?
Over there.
-This one is you. -No. I don't believe it.
This is Cuca, Henry, your dad and your mom.
-How depressing. -Oh, please...
[Walter] How depressing.
[in English] I'm a fortune teller, but I don't like to know my future.
I just want to enjoy each moment of my life.
[in Spanish] Look, look!
Look at that!
I was very cute, wasn't I?
Yes.
[in English] I feel that I'm in heaven right now,
living the life I'm choosing to live
and with the people that I love. That's heaven for me.
I don't expect another heaven.
Heaven is today and heaven is now.
[in Spanish] That's precious!
[Willie in English] Walter will never...
He will never leave.
This will leave, yes.
This is a carapacho. This is, uh...
This is nothing.
[Walter singing] ♪ If you go away ♪
[vocalizes]
♪ If you go away ♪
[Willie] When he passes away,
the essence of Walter will live
forever and ever
in the heart of everybody that love him.
[Walter] Walter Mercado is a force of nature
without beginnings and endings.
He used to be a star, but now,
Walter is a constellation.
["Dame un Besito" playing]
[kisses]
We dedicate this film to our grandmas and to all the grandmas of the world.
With lots of love, Alejandrito, KanKan and Ceena
["Dame un Besito" continues playing]
[in Spanish] God bless you all today, tomorrow, and forever.
And may you receive from me always peace, lots of peace.
But above all, receive lots and lots of what?
[kisses] Love.
-[interviewer] Thank you. -[cheering]
[interviewer in English] The One-Take Wonder!