José María Íñigo Gómez (4 June 1942 – 5 May 2018) was a Spanish journalist, radio and television presenter, and stage and screen actor.

Biography

Career

Born in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Íñigo began his professional career in his hometown as he was hired by Radio Bilbao, and then by

COPE A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

. Shortly after he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from where he collaborated with different music programmes on

Cadena SER La Cadena SER (the SER Network) is a Spanish radio network established in 1924, with a regular listenership of 4,139,000 reported in 2018. The acronym SER stands for Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión (Spanish Broadcasting Company). Cadena SE ...

. Back to Spain, he settled in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, where he worked in radio music shows ''El Musiquero'', ''El Gran Musical'' and ''

Los 40 Principales Los 40 (stylized as LOS40, formerly ''Los 40 Principales'', ) is a Spanish Top 40-themed music radio station that broadcasts current and recent music, primarily focusing on genres such as pop, dance, electropop, Electro Latin, and Reggaeton. Th ...

''. He joined (TVE) in 1968 working in the show ''Último grito'', created by

Pedro Olea Pedro Olea (30 June 1938, Bilbao) is a Spanish screenwriter, film producer and film director. His films '' A House Without Boundaries'' (1972) and '' Akelarre'' (1984) entered into the 22nd and the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. His ...

. Later he presented music programme ''Ritmo 70'', directed by

Pilar Miró Pilar Mercedes Miró Romero (20 April 1940 – 19 October 1997) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. She was the General Director of RTVE from 1986 to 1989. In the 1990s, she directed the television broadcasts of the weddings of the dau ...

. He became one of the most popular television presenters in Spain with the show ''Estudio abierto'' which he hosted from 1972 until 1975 and again from 1984 until 1985. Between 1975 and 1984 he presented other shows with a similar format, which included musical performances and interviews to celebrities or common people with curious stories: ''Directísimo'', ''Esta noche...fiesta'', and ''Fantástico''. After a hiatus, in 1993 and 1994 Íñigo hosted the morning show on

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

alongside

Laura Valenzuela Rocío Espinosa López-Cepero (18 February 1931 – 17 March 2023), known professionally as Laura or Laurita Valenzuela (), was a Spanish television presenter, actress and model. She was one of the first television presenters in Spain appearing ...

. Since then, he worked for several variety shows, talk shows and reality shows on both public and private broadcasters. Since 2000 he also worked for

Radio Nacional de España Radio Nacional de España (acronym RNE, branded rne, "National Radio of Spain") is the national Government-owned corporation, state-owned public service broadcasting, public service radio broadcaster in Spain. RNE is the radio division and T ...

(RNE).

Eurovision Song Contest

Over the years Íñigo has been associated with the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. Between the 1975 Contest and 1976 Contest he announced the Spanish jury result. In 2008 his testimony for a Spanish documentary was used to claim that at the 1968 Contest the voting had been rigged by Spanish dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

and that the United Kingdom should have won the contest, although he later clarified that he had just repeated a widespread rumour and that his words had been taken out of context. Between the 2011 Contest and the 2017 Contest, he provided the TVE commentary. Íñigo was joined by Julia Varela from the 2015 Contest.

Personal life

In 1970 he married painter and model designer Josette Nahmias in Santo Cristo de El Pardo chapel. On 17 December 1984, he married María del Pilar Piniella by

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

at the Registro Civil of Barcelona.

Death

Íñigo died in Madrid aged 75 on 5 May 2018, just before the first semi-final of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

on 8 May. The last night, Íñigo told Pepa Fernández he did not have any strength, and died in his sleep. It was then when his widow revealed that he had been diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

two years earlier, but he kept working until the last day. His

chapelle ardente A (; French for "burning chapel") is a chapel or room in which the corpse of a sovereign or other exalted personage lies in state pending the funeral service. The name is in allusion to the many candles which are lighted round the catafalque. T ...

was installed the same day in Tanatorio de La Paz. His death has been linked to

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

, a lung cancer caused by

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

. In Íñigo's case, it was caused by the soundproofing in the Studio 1 of Prado del Rey. RTVE and the Spanish Social security deny the link.

Career on television

*''Último grito'' (1968–1969) on TVE. *''Ritmo 70'' (1970) on TVE. *''Estudio abierto'' (1972-1975, 1984-1985) on TVE. *''Hoy 14,15'' (1974–1975) on TVE. *''Directísimo'' (1975–1976) on TVE. * Spanish spokesperson in the

(1975-1976). *''Esta noche...fiesta'' (1976-1977) on TVE. *''Estudio 2'' (1970s),

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 a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

*''Fantástico'' (1978–1981) on TVE. *''Íñigo en directo'' (1986) on ETB. *''Las Mañanas de Telecinco'' (1993-1994) on

. *''¿De qué parte estás?'' (1994–1995) on Telecinco. *''El Show de Flo'' (2002–2003) on TVE, co-host. *''Vivo cantando'' (2003) on Telecinco, co-host. *''Carta de ajuste'' (2004) on TVE. *'' Supervivientes: Perdidos en el Caribe'' (2006) on Telecinco, co-host. *''El Club de Flo'' (2006) on

laSexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

, contestant. *'' Destino Oslo, La Gala de Eurovisión 2010'' on TVE, jury member. * Spanish commentary for the

(2011–2017), on TVE. *''Así nos va'' (2013) on laSexta, section co-host. *''¡Qué tiempo tan feliz!'' (2014-2017) on Telecinco, panelist. *''Aquí la Tierra'' (2017–2018) on TVE, panelist. *''Hora punta'' (2017–2018) on TVE, panelist.

References

External links

*
José María Íñigo's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inigo Maria, Jose 1942 births 2018 deaths Male actors from Bilbao Spanish radio personalities Spanish male television actors Spanish expatriates in England Spanish game show hosts Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest Deaths from cancer in Spain Recipients of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise