e was born in the neighborhood of Saavedra where he was known under the nickname Fiti and where he had a large number of friends.

His debut was in 1950. His singing voice was publicly known at the talent contest organized by Radio Splendid in 1953 and which was won by Alfredo Dalton. He appeared with his real name and turned out second by singing the tango “Tengo miedo”.

In 1955 he premiered on record the tango “Afiches” accompanied by its composer, Atilio Stampone, who then conducted the staff orchestra of Radio Belgrano. But this excellent number did not reach the acclaim it deserved, possibly, due to the little airing the material had. Only nearly twenty years later the piece became well-known in the rendition of the vocalist Roberto Goyeneche.

According to my collected information he recorded with the above orchestra leader six tangos: the abovementioned “Afiches” and “Confesión” (1956), “Por la vuelta” and “Nostalgias” (1958) and, in 1962, in the first long-playing record by the Atilio Stampone orchestra released by the Odeon label: “Uno” and “Adiós muchachos”.

He had a short tenure in the Aníbal Troilo orchestra but he split with it to emigrate to the United States where he appeared in shows for rather a long time.

In that American country he was acquainted with Horacio Deval and the boxing fighter Ringo Bonavena, among other Argentines. On his comeback to Buenos Aires he admitted he had made a big mistake by quitting the Troilo orchestra.

There is an LP released in 1977, entitled Héctor Petray, la emoción del tango. Homenaje a Aníbal Troilo, by the Tennessee label (disc 3001) in which he sings ten numbers composed by El Gordo, accompanied by an orchestra led by Frank Valiente.

Thanks to some information I got from the Todo Tango forum, La Mesa del Café, I came to know that he also shared with the singer Pablo Moreno a double record for the Microfón label, with two numbers on each side. In it he recorded “La noche de mi amor”, as a tango version and “Mariquilla bonita”, as a milonga; backed by two numbers sung by Moreno.

The two singers as well recorded for the Audio Fidelity label (disc AFLP 1880) another long playing record released in USA in 1958 with the Atilio Stampone orchestra. Petray recorded only “Por la vuelta” because of a temporary health trouble that made him unable to go on recording and the numbers he was meant to cut were recorded by Pablo Moreno instead. Unfortunately that record was not published in Argentina.

He died in a state of abject poverty at the Hospital Pirovano.