38 Facts About Felipe Camiroaga

Felipe Humberto Camiroaga Fernandez was a Chilean television presenter, actor and comedian, one of the most popular in his country.

Felipe Camiroaga acted in several TV series, such as Jaque Mate and Rojo y Miel, and in two films.

Felipe Camiroaga twice hosted the Vina del Mar International Song Festival in 2009 and 2010.

Felipe Camiroaga was nicknamed "Halcon de Chicureo" because he bred falcons in his residence in Chicureo, a rural area north of Santiago.

Felipe Camiroaga died on 2 September 2011 after the military plane which was taking him and twenty others to Juan Fernandez Archipelago crashed in the sea.

Felipe Camiroaga's death was officially announced seven days later, and after a funeral oration at TVN's headquarters, he was buried in Santiago.

Felipe Camiroaga has been posthumously awarded several prizes, including the "Social Communicator Special Award" by the National Council of Television in 2011.

Felipe Camiroaga's parents were Jorge Camiroaga Puch and Maria de la Luz Fernandez Stemann; he was the second of three brothers.

Camiroaga and Fernandez separated when Felipe was four years old.

Felipe Camiroaga's mother moved to the Canary Islands in Spain, leaving her children with their father.

Felipe Camiroaga was of Basque, German, and Peruvian descent; he traces his Peruvian ancestry to his paternal grandmother Irene Puch de Olazabal who was born in Arequipa; Felipe Camiroaga's German blood is traced to his mother and paternal grandmother.

In 1981, while spending his vacations at the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, Felipe Camiroaga offered to work as a camera assistant for a TV crew from Television Nacional de Chile that was in the location, his first ever interaction with TV.

Felipe Camiroaga was named an "Illustrious Son" of Villa Alegre in May 2011.

Felipe Camiroaga completed his primary studies at Colegio San Ignacio de El Bosque, and his secondary studies at Colegio Marshall.

Felipe Camiroaga studied journalism at Las Condes University, but did not complete the course, and theater at Academia de Actuacion Fernando Gonzalez Mardones.

Felipe Camiroaga started working as a camera assistant at the press department of television channel Red de Television Universidad de Chile in 1988, and later as a production assistant at the channel's production department.

Felipe Camiroaga was hired by Television Nacional de Chile in 1992 to co-host Buenos Dias a Todos with Tati Penna, a breakfast programme first transmitted that year; however, the couple were later replaced by Margot Kahl and Jorge Hevia.

Felipe Camiroaga hosted prime time programmes during the 2000s such as Con Mucho Carino and Ciudad Gotica, both of which did not complete a full season for their "controversial contents", and the first two seasons of the reality show Peloton.

Felipe Camiroaga returned to Buenos Dias a Todos in 2005, sharing duties with Tonka Tomicic, then with Katherine Salosny, and finally Carolina de Moras.

In 2010, Felipe Camiroaga co-hosted Halcon y Camaleon with comedian Stefan Kramer.

Felipe Camiroaga rejected this offer and renewed his contract with TVN for three years.

Felipe Camiroaga proved to be versatile in his TV programmes, where he created characters such as El Washington, a poor man who lives on the street and survives on leftover food, distinguished by his humble origin.

Felipe Camiroaga hosted a radio programme called El Almacen del Washington in Corazon FM, dedicated to the trading of articles.

One of Felipe Camiroaga's most recognized characters is Luciano Bello, a TV presenter native to Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Felipe Camiroaga is characterized by his large teeth and is coquettish with women.

In 2000, he participated in the theatrical work Venecia, directed by Boris Quercia, starring Gabriela Medina, Carmen Barros, Tichi Lobos and Javiera Contador; Felipe Camiroaga was the only male actor.

The night before his death, on 1 September 2011, Felipe Camiroaga participated in the recording of the comedy film Stefan vs Kramer with comedian Stefan Kramer and TV presenter Martin Carcamo.

In 2001, the programme Pase lo que Pase released the album La Banda del Pase lo que Pase, in which Felipe Camiroaga debuted as a singer.

Felipe Camiroaga was travelling with a team from Buenos Dias a Todos, personnel from Desafio Levantemos Chile and the National Council of Culture and the Arts to Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, when the Chilean Air Force CASA C-212 Aviocar plane which was carrying them crashed into the sea and disintegrated while it was trying to land at the Robinson Crusoe Aerodrome, on 2 September 2011.

Felipe Camiroaga's remains were cremated in a private ceremony on 12 September 2011, and the next day a funeral oration was conducted at the Television Nacional de Chile's headquarters, which was broadcast live by the station.

On 16 November 2011, Felipe Camiroaga's ashes were taken to the Lugar de Los Hombres Ilustres of Villa Alegre's churchyard.

In that episode of Buenos Dias a Todos, the first since Camiroaga's death, his friend and TV director Daniel Sagues commented that Felipe once told him that he wanted Silvio Rodriguez's song "Angel para un Final" to be played in his funeral.

Chilean newspaper Las Ultimas Noticias caused controversy on 2 September 2011; its digital edition cover was headlined "The last flight of the Falcon", which generated outrage from Internet users, as Felipe Camiroaga's whereabouts were unknown at the time.

The municipality of Colina, where Felipe Camiroaga lived in Chicureo, announced they would name him posthumously "Illustrious Son" of the community.

Felipe Camiroaga was linked romantically with several Chilean TV personalities, such as Katherine Salosny, Angelica Castro, Karen Doggenweiler, Barbara Rebolledo, Paz Bascunan and Fernanda Hansen, with whom he was in a relationship at the time of his death.

Felipe Camiroaga was linked to Rocio Marengo, Francini Amaral, Krishna Navas, amid others.

Felipe Camiroaga practiced polo; he was an aviation enthusiast and completed his pilot training in 1996.

Frei said Felipe Camiroaga was a "very brave man" for publicly expressing his political views.