Walter Mercado: "The Liberace of Astrology"

above: Weekly World News {November 8, 1994}

clip taken from a Walter Mercado infomercial (c. late 80s/early 1990s)

Leave it to Facebook to get the (gazing) ball rolling about Mister Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican born psychic extraordinaire.

So, yesterday - I am chit-chatting with Desuko about stuff. Somehow, I bring up Walter Mercado. Soon after, on my own Facebook page, I post the clip above. Dante goes wildly insane.
I explain, "Well, Donna (Lethal…Not to be confused with Donna Reed or Donna Summer) and Bob are fans of Walter Mercado too."
Donna jumped in and said, "He's the Liberace of Astrology!"
Dante immediately deems this being PCL worthy.
And so it shall be.

The almost eighty year old Mercado (who now goes by the name Shanti Ananda) burst on to televisions, across the country (U.S.) during the early to mid - 90s. With his tight Sally Jesse Raphael 'do, flawless made-up face, flamboyant silken pantsuits and flashy rings, he dazzled Spanish (and some English) speaking viewers with his rapid fire astrological predictions. I watched his segments whenever I could and I don't speak a lick of Spanish. It was so insane, I could not believe my ears and eyes.

At the end of each segment, he would wave-roll his hands and say to his viewing audience, "Sobre todo, mucho, mucho amor!" Then, he would kiss his palm and blow it into the camera as disappeared in to a cape or a pink fog or something insane.