Enrique O. Gratas (born Gratás; November 25, 1944 – October 8, 2015) was an Argentinian journalist and television personality known for being the original host of '' Ocurrio Asi'' on

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

, and the former anchor of

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

's ''Última Hora'' (''Last Hour''), the second most popular Spanish newscast in the United States.

Biography

Born in Bahía Blanca, Gratas started working in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

as a radio speaker in 1966 and moved to television news a year later. He moved to the United States in 1971 and worked as a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the Argentine television. Later he joined the sport division of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

KWHY-TV KWHY-TV (channel 22) is a Spanish-language independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by Meruelo Broadcasting alongside Garden Grove–licensed KBEH (channel 63); the two stations share RF channel 4 u ...

station. In 1978 he conducted the first Spanish-language sports program from

station

KMEX-TV KMEX-DT (channel 34) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the western flagship station of the Spanish-language Univision network. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Ontario, Califor ...

. From 1982 to 1985 he was the news director of the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

WXTV WXTV-DT (channel 41) is a television station licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, United States, serving as the Univision outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WL ...

. In 1989, he moved to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

where Executive Producer

Fran Mires Fran Mires is a television producer credited with the creation and launch of dozens of television shows in English, Spanish and now Arabic. She is a graduate of San Francisco State University and earned her master's degree in journalism from the Med ...

brought him in to anchor

's flagship show, the network's first daily investigative news magazine '' Ocurrio asi'' ("It happened like this"). When Gratas left Telemundo Network in 1999, Pedro Sevcec took over the show temporarily before being replaced by Ana Patricia Candiani the following year. In October 2000, Gratas launched ''Última Hora'' on Univision, which successfully continued to be aired for 10 years. Gratas was laid off in March 2009 along with 300 other Univision employees. Together with Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas, they are considered amongst the most respected Spanish-language television journalists in the United States and Latin America. Enrique Gratas last worked as the news anchor of ''Noticiero con Enrique Gratas'' on

Estrella TV Estrella TV () is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by the Estrella Media subsidiary of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The network primarily features programs, the vast majority of which are produced by the network ...

Health issues and death

Late in September 2015, Gratas recorded a video message where he declared to the public that he had an undisclosed disease. On October 8, 2015, Gratas died in Los Angeles at age 71. The cause of death was cancer, according to the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''.

Noted work

Among many others, Gratas interviewed: *

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell *

Jessica Lynch Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class. On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist ...

(first to interview her) *

Yolanda Saldívar Yolanda Saldívar (; born September 19, 1960) is an American former nurse who was convicted of the murder of singer Selena in 1995. Saldívar had been the president of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, but she lost both positio ...

(the person convicted for the murder of famous Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla) He has also covered a number of major events, such as: *Every

American president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

since

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

*Events from Watergate to the 9-11 attacks in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

*Numerous Democratic and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

conventions *Anchored coverage of the new Millennium for the Univision Network *Both wars in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

* Luis Colosio's assassination (1994) * Olympic bombing in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

(1996) * 2000 U.S. presidential elections *Several

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s *The political crises in Argentina and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Recognitions

*1996 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award *Premio Paoli (

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

), for his commitment to journalism *1998 Señor Internacional * Golden Globe nominee for best News Anchor *2005 City of Hope Cancer Center Award

References

External links