Tito Lara (December 23, 1932 – June 23, 1987), was considered by many to be Puerto Rico's first television singing idol. Early years Lara (birth name: Agustín Enrique Lara Olivencia was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Lara was raised by his maternal grandmother and received primary education in Santurce. During his spare time, he taught himself to play the guitar. In 1942, when was only 10 years old, his grandmother realized that her grandson had musical talent and took him to WNEL, the local radio station, where he made his debut. In 1946, Lara enrolled at the Free School of Music in San Juan, where he continued his guitar studies and learned to play the trumpet. Trío Los Lirios In 1948, Lara and eleven fellow students created an ensemble with Lara as lead singer. In 1949, Lara formed a trio called Trío Los Lirios which became a regular guest on the WKAQ radio station. They were paid 2 American dollars per appearance. Recording debut Lara enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico to study Liberal Arts and joined the university's choir. In 1950, the owner of Mardí Records heard and was impressed by Lara's singing and asked him to form a quartet including a female voice. Lara did so, was signed by Mardí Records and dropped out of college in 1953 to travel with the quartet to New York City. Lara also went solo in 1953 and scored a hit with a recording of the bolero Sollozo ('Crying'), which he followed up with Orquídeas, a Spanish version of Orchids in the Moonlight by Vincent Youmans. That same year he met and married Nilda María Canino with whom he was to have three children, Agustin Jr., María and José Rafael. He returned to New York and performed at the Paramount Theater where Myrta Silva introduced him as "El Pollo que Canta" ('The Handsome Singer'). Los Hispanos In 1955, Lara joined one of Puerto Rico's renowned quartets Los Hispanos and made his television début with them and singers, Ida Claudio, and Sonia Noemí on "El Show Ford", broadcast by Telemundo, the television station owned and operated by Ángel Ramos. His extraordinary vocal range allowed him to replace any of the members of Los Hispanos when one of them was unable to perform. On January 11, 1965, the group began a seven-year participation in the televised part of the Festival Sultana, a