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Walter Mercado (March 9 1932) is a flamboyant Puerto Rican astrologer who has become a personal astrologer for many celebrities. He is currently a regular contributor to Univisión's television magazine show Primer Impacto with a daily horoscope reading.
Mercado was born March 9 on board a ship travelling from Spain to Puerto Rico. His parents are José María Mercado and Aida Salinas, a native of Catalonia, Spain. Both of them motivated and influenced Mercado's interest in the Arts, Science, spirituality, and nature. He did very well in school, and was mostly an introverted child.
Allegedly, he learned to read the Tarot cards when he was a child. He is also noted to have performed small traditional Haitian voodoo ceremonies of which he had never been familiar. He believes he learned them from previous lives.
After finishing high school in Fajardo Puerto Rico, Mercado studied at the University of Puerto Rico where he studied Pharmacy to please his parents. Then he studied Psychology, Theater, and Dance.
Mercado began his career as an actor in early Puerto Rican soap operas. He was one of the first Puerto Rican teen idols. He received much praise as a dancer and as a theater actor. In 1960 he won an award for his acting and performed in his final soap opera.
In the 1960s, Mercado moved to India, where he studied Astrology. On returning to Puerto Rico, he hosted a weekly Astrology television show. Although the channel went bankrupt, Mercado's show soon moved to Tele Once (channel 11).
He has had shows on American television as well. For a while during the late 1980s, he moved to Miami, Florida where he became better known to the American public and people of other English-speaking countries. At about that time he also tried to establish a dial-a-horoscope business in Brazil but his strong accent when trying to say "Call Now" in Portuguese (translated as "ligue já", which though grammatically correct is not the proper Brazilian usage) turned his only TV commercial there a perfect target for mockery. The campaign was popular but not successful since he did not penetrate the local astrology market. However, to this date many Brazilians still mimick his "ligue dja" to refer to something that comes from abroad and does not take proper account of the local language or culture.
In addition to his work for celebrities, Mercado also does mall tours where he gives out his predictions for free.
Mercado recently began writing horoscopes for a Spanish publication sponsored by megastore company K Mart. He also appears in a Spanish commercial for Old Navy. He had a minor, yet important role in the film Chasing Papi. Additionally, Universal Pictures released Walter's first of several DVD's titled, "Las Maravillosas Recetas de Walter Mercado."