Freddy Beras Goico | Dominican TV figure, 69

Freddy Beras Goico, 69, an actor, comedian, and TV host considered the most influential television figure in his native Dominican Republic, died Thursday in New York.

Mr. Beras died at Mount Sinai Medical Center from complications of pancreatic cancer, according to Giancarlo Beras, his son. He was hospitalized in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 2 and flown to New York two days later. He underwent surgery at Mount Sinai earlier this year.

His death drew an outpouring of grief in his homeland and among Dominican communities in the United States.

President Leonel Fernandez praised him as a mediator of the country's political and social conflicts with his broadcasting and philanthropy. "He appealed with energy and integrity for the construction of a better society," Fernandez said.

He began his TV career as a cameraman in the early 1960s and went on to host a weekly variety show for 30 years.

Mr. Beras, whose family fled to Colombia during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, was a political activist in the 1950s and 1960s and was jailed in 1965 for taking part in a war to reestablish democratic government. - AP