María Celeste Arrarás

Maria Celeste Arrarás (born September 27, 1960 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican bestselling author and Emmy award winning television journalist that hosts the Spanish language news magazine program, Al Rojo Vivo, and also co-anchors Telemundo's internationally acclaimed newscast, Noticiero Telemundo.[1] She is a media dynamo who was featured in the cover of "Newsweek" magazine as one of the Women Leaders of Her Generation and has been in the cover of "People en Español" 14 times.

Biography

Maria Celeste Arrarás was born September 27, 1960 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. She is the firstborn child of the respected retired politician, sports leader, lawyer, and educator José Enrique Arrarás.[2]

In her youth Arrarás was a champion swimmer that earned trophies in AAU competitions in the United States. In 1971, she won three medals (one gold, one silver, and one bronze) at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships. She qualified to compete at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but had to give up on that goal two weeks before the competition after she had contracted infectious mononucleosis ("kissing disease") after having shared a glass of water with someone.[2]

Starting at age 19, she attended Loyola University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she majored in Communications and graduated with honors.

Arrarás began her broadcasting career when she was employed by local Puerto Rican television station Canal 24 (Channel 24) as a newsanchor and reporter. At Channel 24 she travelled all over the world covering major news events and in a very short time she received several journalistic awards for her reports. That drew the attention of the executives of the Univision affiliate in New York City who decided to hire her in 1986 as the co-anchor of its local news show. Shortly after, the network promoted her to the position of National Newsanchor for the weekend edition of its Noticiero Univision.

In 1992 she was named co-anchor of another television news program, Primer Impacto. The show became an instant success and registered record ratings over the years. Along with her co-anchor Myrka Dellanos, she would continue to hold that position until 2002 when she left the show and the network to join the rival Telemundo Network.

At Telemundo USA she became the host and Managing Editor of a new show that replaced her former competitor, Ocurrio Asi. Her new show was named after her, Al Rojo Vivo con Maria Celeste.[3] To this day that show is the favorite of her vast audience that includes viewers in the United States,coast to coast, and in thirteen Latin American countries.

She immediately became a more famous celebrity than the celebrities she had to interview and was even invited to do cameo appearances in two episodes of the American soap opera Passions in November 2002, in which she played herself.[4] Though she never intended to become an actress she said that the experience helped her understand better the world of acting.

She made headlines in April 2003, when Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin gave her the first interview in Spanish after a two year's hiatus. The encounter drew attention because it was the first between the two since she had asked him years before whether he was gay. Back then he had responded with a denial.

In May 2003, Arrarás was honored with her name and hand-prints on a plaque on display in Mexico City's Paseo de los Grandes (Walk of the Great Ones).

Since the NBC network owns the Telemundo company, executives at NBC decided that it would be a good idea for Arrarás to host the candidates' debate during the "Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum" in 2004. Arraras shone during the transmission although at one point she mistakenly referred to Representative Dennis Kucinich as "Senator Kucinich" instead of "Congressman Kucinich", and he needed to correct her.[5]

In March 2004, a celebrity gossip magazine ran a story about Arrarás's filing for divorce from her then husband Manny Arvesu.[6] Arraras immediately opened up about the ordeal in an exclusive cover story with People en Español.

Also, in an interview her then controversial Telemundo co-worker, Laura Bozzo, expressed a disliking of her. It was rumored in the press that Bozzo was jealous for all the attention that Maria Celeste was getting.

All this was published shortly after Arrarás attended the wedding of Mexican soap opera star, Lucía Méndez, in Miami. Arrarás declared that attending the wedding while in the middle of her own marital crisis was hard for her.[7]

In June 2005 she became the first female Hispanic journalist to receive a National Emmy in recognition for her career achievements. She later received at least one more Emmy for Outstanding coverage of a News Event in October 2014.

On Friday, June 23, 2006, Arrarás became the first Telemundo hostess to co-host the Today Show on NBC. She did this again July 7, 2006, July 30, 2006, and for several days during the first week of July, 2009.[8] Throughout the years she continued participating as a contributor to the Today show and different NBC News properties such as Dateline and Nightly News.

On September,2006 she was featured in the cover of both the domestic and international editions of Newsweek magazine as one of "The 20 Powerful Women of the Next Generation".

In 2003 and 2006, Arrarás served as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant. In January 2007, she became one of the first Hispanic celebrity moms to be a part of the Hispanic "Got Milk?" campaign, as part of the "Think About Your Drink" campaign.[9]

She joined Jose Diaz Balart in December 2012 as co-anchor of the internationally acclaimed Noticiero Telemundo, although the announcement was not made official until May,2013.

On May,2013 Arrarás was also recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with a Silver Circle Award, in recognition for her contributions to the industry.

Over the years Arrarás has been praised for her skills when interviewing celebrities and politicians. Considered a fair yet incisive journalist she has landed exclusive after exclusive, including one with Yolanda Saldívar, the woman convicted of murdering Tejano music singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.

Books

Arrarás is also an investigative reporter and writer, and has authored several books. In her book, Selena‘s Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death (released in Spanish as El Secreto De Selena: La Reveladora Historia Detrás De Su Trágica Muerte) she describes how she investigated the events surrounding the death of singer Selena Quintanilla.[10][11] The book became an instant best seller because it described in detail the difficult and controversial situations that Selena was confronting in the months previous to her murder.

In 2007, Arrarás also wrote a book The Magic Cane, published in Spanish as El Bastón Mágico.[12][13] The book made for children from the ages of four to eight features brightly colored comic book style illustrations that will appeal to readers providing a modern touch for an old-fashioned type of storytelling.

In 2009, Arrarás published her latest book Make Your Life Prime Time: How to Have It All Without Losing Your Soul, published in Spanish as Vive Tu Vida Al Rojo Vivo: Secretos Para Triunfar En Todo.[14][15] The award-winning journalist shares advice through personal reflections and a series of anecdotes that will serve all those who read it as a compass to navigate through life.[16]

Personal life

Arrarás, is the daughter of José Enrique Arrarás and is one of nine children.[14] Her siblings include Astrid, José Enrique, Jr., Patricia, Gabriel Enrique, Enrique Antonio and Isabel Celeste Arrarás.[2] Arrarás, also has two more brothers, Percy and Francisco Naranjo born during the second marriage of her mother, Astrid Mangual.

She currently lives in Miami with her three children. She has two biological children by her former husband Manny Arvesu (Julian Enrique born in 1997 and Lara Giuliana born in 2001 ).[4] She was the first Latin celebrity to adopt a child from an orphanage in Eastern Europe, when she and Manny Arvesu adopted a one-year-old Russian boy in 2000. They changed his name from Vadim to Adrian Vadim.

She is a vocal environmental and animal rights[17] activist that throughout the years has brought attention to issues such as climate change and the importance of protecting water supplies. Arrarás has vigorously condemned the use of animals in circuses and any kind of "sport" such as bullfighting, roach fights and rodeos.

Arraras has been the victim of various hoaxes. Her death was claimed by online media and also announced on different media on many countries in 2014 and again in 2015.[18] She actively denied the hoaxes in her Twitter account @MariaCeleste and her Instagram account @MariaCelesteArraras as well as in her Facebook Fan Site.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Telemundo". Telemundo. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "JAIME BAYLY ENTREVISTA A MARIA CELESTE ARRARAS VOL 1 MEGA TV EXCLUSIVA". YouTube.com. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  3. ↑ "María Celeste Arrarás - El Rinconcito Sexy". Echicas.com.mx. 1999-02-22. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  4. 1 2 "Find the work you love by María Celeste Arrarás". Mcelestearraras.obolog.com. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "María Celeste Arrarás firma acuerdo de divorcio" (in Spanish). PeopleenEspanol.com. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  7. ↑ "Maria Celeste Arrarás: Talk Show Divas Go Head To Head On Telemundo". Puertorico-herald.org. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  8. ↑ "PBase.com". PBase.com. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  9. ↑ "Maria Celeste Arrarás is newest Hispanic Milk Mustache Celebrity - Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast | Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast". Hispanicmpr.com. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  10. ↑ Arrarás, Maria Celeste (1997). Selena’s Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death. Simon & Schuster. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-684-83193-0.
  11. ↑ Arrarás, Maria Celeste (1997). El Secreto De Selena: La Reveladora Historia Detras De Su Trajica Muerte. Simon & Schuster. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-684-83135-0.
  12. ↑ Arrarás, Maria Celeste; Chuckry, Chris (2007). The Magic Cane. Scholastic Inc. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-439-57419-8.
  13. ↑ Arrarás, Maria Celeste; Chuckry, Chris (2008). bastón mágico. Scholastic Inc. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-545-00532-6.
  14. 1 2 Arrarás, Maria Celeste (2009). Make Your Life Prime Time: How to Have It All Without Losing Your Soul. Simon & Schuster. p. 272. ISBN 978-1-4165-8581-7.
  15. ↑ Arrarás, Maria Celeste (2009). Vive Tu Vida Al Rojo Vivo: Secretos Para Triunfar En Todo. Simon & Schuster. p. 272. ISBN 978-1-4391-0188-9.
  16. ↑ Archived February 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ Maria Celeste: Circus Cruelty, PETA website, accessed 02/25/2016
  18. ↑ "Maria Celeste Arraras Not Dead (DETAILS) ‹". Alyiv.com. Retrieved 2015-05-28.

External links

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