Mr. Mercado was born in Ponce, one of Puerto Rico’s largest cities. There, he gained fame for his daily horoscope segment on Spanish-language television, delivered in dramatic fashion with an exaggerated trilling of the “r” sound. Alex Fumero, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who has spent two years working on a documentary about Mr. Mercado, said the astrologer was an unlikely icon in the Latino community. ADIn October 2010, Mr. Mercado announced he was changing his name to Shanti Ananda. Mr. Mercado was hospitalized in December 2011 in Puerto Rico following a cold that turned into pneumonia.

Source: Washington Post November 03, 2019 17:11 UTC