In Memory of Trailblazing Actor René Enríquez ('Hill Street Blues'): 34 Years After His Tragic Death

Photo byimdb.com

It's been thirty-four years since actor René Enríquez, of TV's classic Hill Street Blues crime drama, died at only 56 years old. This is his story.

A Closer Look

René Enríquez was featured as the harried Calletano during the entire eight-year run of Hill Street Blues, which left the air in 1987.

Post-Hill Street, René Enríquez went on to star in The Judge, a Spanish-language legal show reminiscent of The People's Court, which aired on Univision, the Spanish-language TV network.

In the late 1980s, René Enríquez rattled the media cage a bit when he publicly protested what he termed a shortage of major TV roles for Hispanics.

Backstory

René Enríquez was a nephew of General Emiliano Chamorro, a one-time president of Nicaragua. He attended San Francisco College and San Francisco State University; served with the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War; was a member of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York from 1958, and an alumnus of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (Class of 1960).

On March 28, 1990, the New York Times originally reported that Enríquez died of pancreatic cancer. However, upon publication of his death certificate, Enríquez's cause of death was revealed to be complications resulting from AIDS.

According to IMBb, and as reported on a 1992 episode of Entertainment Tonight, this was not a surprise to his Hill Street Blues costar Charles Haid, as Enríquez had disclosed to Haid the true nature of his affliction before his passing.