Danny Villanueva Sr. dies at 77; NFL kicker, Spanish-language TV pioneer
Danny Villanueva Sr., a former NFL kicker and pioneer of Spanish-language television, is shown in 1997. Villanueva died Thursday at the age of 77 due to complications from a stroke.
Danny Villanueva Sr., a former NFL kicker who went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Spanish-language television in the U.S., has died. He was 77.
Villanueva, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s, died Thursday due to complications from a stroke, his family said in a statement.
After eight years as one of the first Latino players for the NFL, Villanueva entered the world of broadcasting as a sportscaster for KMEX and rose through its ranks. He became news director, station manager and later president and part owner of the company that became Univision.
During his time at the station, KMEX established itself as a major player in local news and won a prestigious Peabody Award in 1970 for its coverage of the killing of journalist Ruben Salazar by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and the turmoil surrounding the Chicano movement.
“We don’t have an L.A. Times. We don’t have a KCET. We have to be a little more than a TV station to our viewers,” Villanueva told The Times in 1985.
After the network was sold, Villanueva went onto become an influential investor and civic leader, orchestrating a buyout of Telemundo and the L.A. Aztecs and attempting to bring an NFL team back to Los Angeles in the 1990s.
Villanueva was the ninth of 12 children born to Mexican immigrant parents in Tucumcari, New Mexico, according to his family. He played for New Mexico State University, where he was a longtime booster and was inducted into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.
His family said in the statement that Villanueva was a “relentless advocate for issues he felt were important to Latino community development.”
“Villanueva was a consummate storyteller and hilarious jokester who knew how to light up a room with his warm smile and gregarious, generous spirit,” the statement said.
He is survived by his wife, Myrna; sons Danny and Jim; five grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
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