Fontana was quite self-taught. The son of a humble family (father a foreman, mother a seamstress, childhood in a small street in Barracas), at the age of 15 he dropped out of high school to work in a railway office. As luck would have it, a friend pushed him to be an orchestra presenter in a dance hall. From there to running ads on Radio del Pueblo, at only 17 years old, there was only one step. He was soon a substitute announcer, radio drama narrator, program presenter and, finally, a stable commercial announcer for Radio El Mundo. In an extensive and admirable career, he grew up together with Luis Sandrini, Miguel Coronato Paz, José María Muñoz and other important figures, until he had his own program, the “Fontana Show”, a remarkable journalistic innovation with mobile phones, contacts with the outside world, inserts of humor and guest artists, which lasted 16 seasons, until his throat began to ask for calm. When it joined television it was with a similar scheme, the “Video Show”, which was another success. “La Oral Deportiva”, “Odol Question”, “Sixth edition”, are some of the spaces of its best period, a a time when, moreover, he had three great loves: the announcer Dora Palma, with whom he had a daughter, the tango singer Beba Bidart, somewhat older than him, and the model Liliana Caldini, 20 years younger, with whom he had twins as beautiful as the mother.
In 1982 it occurred to him to put together the first Argentinian television marathon with Pinky, “24 hours for Malvinas”. He had no bad intentions, and that day was exciting for the whole country, but shortly after the bad mood of the defeat and the complaints about the theft of donations clouded the event and led to the loss of popularity of the announcer. Later, the complaint of a model for alleged ill-treatment and incitement to drugs (complaint from which he was acquitted) and public suspicion about his relationship with the wife of a friend (Alberto Olmedo, in annoying circumstances) gave more ground to his prestige. Even so, he had those who respected him and reached out to him. From that last stage there are several programs on radio stations in the interior, until reaching “Un Cacho de Nacional”, on Radio Nacional. By then he was already 87 years old, had a heart attack and pneumonia. Covid at 88 didn’t help him too much either. It is better to remember his voice and his figure, which he manages to show off especially in the film “Pobre Mariposa”, where he was a supporting actor alongside Graciela Borges.
Source: Ambito
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