Jaime Bayly

Jaime Bayly
Jaime Bayly in the Miami Book Fair International 2011
Born	Jaime Bayly Letts (1965-02-19) February 19, 1965 Lima, Peru
Pen name	The Terrible Boy, El Niño Terrible (de la Televisión)
Occupation	Writer, journalist
Nationality	Peruvian
Citizenship	Peruvian, American
Period	1983 – present
Notable awards	Emmy Awards (1997, 2008, 2009) Premio Planeta de Novela (runner-up) Herralde Award (1997)
Spouse	Silvia Núñez del Arco (2011–present) Sandra Masías (1993–1997)

Jaime Bayly Letts [ˈxaime ˈbeili lets, ˈhaime ˈbeili lets] (born February 19, 1965) is a Peruvian writer, journalist and television personality.^[1] He is the third of 9 children and is known as "El niño terrible" (The terrible boy).^[2]

He has won an Emmy Award and 2 of his books have been adapted into international movies.

Early life

Bayly was born to an upper class Anglo-Peruvian family. He was the first son and the third of nine children of James Bayly Llona and his wife, Doris Letts Colmenares.

He studied at Markham College, a British private school in Lima, and later at Colegio San Agustín of Lima. In his youth, he was convinced by his mother to work at the daily newspaper La Prensa of Lima in order to become more responsible through a part-time job.

In 1982 he was accepted to the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. After studying for four years, he had to leave the university as he could not pass a mandatory subject.

Career

His first television appearance was in 1983 during Peru's municipal elections, interviewing candidates and politicians. Later on, he began a career as a late show host interviewing celebrities.

Bayly's first late-night show, 1990 en America, got the attention of TV audiences and critics. The following year he hosted a copy of David Letterman's Late Show called Que hay de nuevo?.^[3]

During the 1990s Bayly hosted late-night shows in the United States at CBS Telenoticias Network Latin America and Telemundo for six years.

After President of Peru Alberto Fujimori sought asylum in Japan in 2001 following a ten-year term in order to avoid prosecution on charges of corruption, independent news media found itself in a better position. Bayly was able to host political program El Francotirador ("The Sniper"), interviewing candidates to the 2001 presidential election. In that program, he apparently offended several personalities with his political opinions, and finally had to quit. Inspired by the experience, Bayly wrote a book, taking the title from the show. Later he resumed the program.

In 2006, he supported right-wing Lourdes Flores for presidency. In 2010, Bayly announced he intended to run for president in the Peruvian general election, 2011 to succeed Alan García. Later that year, he supported leftist candidate Susana Villaran in her successful campaign to become mayor of Lima. As a consequence, broadcasting company Frecuencia Latina cancelled his show.^[4]

On his U.S. program which airs on the Miami-based MegaTV channel, Bayly is well known for his views which have included sharp criticism of the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez.

AWARDS

• Suncoast Regional EMMY® - On Camera Talent – Commentator/Editorialist - 2008 - (Bayly) - Winner

• GLAAD Media Visibilidad - 2007

• Planeta de Novela - 2005 - (Y De Repente Un Angel) - Runner-up

• Herralde de Novela - 1997 - (La Noche Es Virgen) - Winner

Bibliography

His novel No se lo Digas a Nadie (Don't Tell Anyone) inspired a screenplay for a film of the same title (1998), directed by Francisco Lombardi, and starring Santiago Magill and Christian Meier. He wrote other novels, all of them on politics, sexual freedom and friendship. Several of his books contain recurring semi-autobiographical elements (e.g. bisexual cocaine using Peruvian newscaster who moves to Miami). The character for "El Cojo" is supposedly based on his father who was also crippled. His characters are often heartless, and reflect moral ambivalence, which makes it difficult to identify with them.

See also

• Tongo (entertainer)

References

External links

• Jaime Bayly in NTN24 from Bogotá, Colombia – November 2009