Emmy-winning cameraman Hector Ramirez passes away

Hector Ramirez, a cameraman with 20 Primetime Emmy awards, and who has worked on Oscars and Grammys passed away on Wednesday. The 78-year-old breathed his last after a battle with esophageal cancer, his wife, Alma Ramirez said on Monday. 

From 2005-2015, Ramirez handled the camera for 21 seasons of Dancing With Stars, for which he also won five Emmys. He also shot the Grammys, the Tonys, the Emmys (Primetime and Daytime), the Golden Globes, the Independent Spirit Awards, the SAG Awards, AFI Life Achievement Award specials, the MTV Video Music Awards, the Kids’ Choice Awards, the People’s Choice Awards.

He became a cameraman after being inspired by his friend Noel Newman, who was an ABC cameraman on The Hollywood Palace. He was the first news cameraman to film President Nixon’s return to San Clemente, California after he resigned. 

In 1973, Ramirez was hired at CBS Television City and shot such sitcoms as All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Three’s Company, and One Day at a Time and variety shows hosted by Carol Burnett, Sonny & Cher, and Tony Orlando & Dawn.

He received 74 Emmy nominations, one Daytime Emmy and one Lifetime Achievement Award (in 2019) from the Society of Camera Operators in addition to his Primetime trophies. Survivors include his wife, son Dana, granddaughter Alaya, three brothers, and a sister.