Mexican actor Ana Ofelia Murguía, who gave voice to the character of “Mama Coco” in the popular Pixar film “Coco,” has died, Mexican officials said. She was 90. Mexico’s National Fine Arts Institute announced Murguía’s death on social media Sunday without providing a cause of death.
“She leaves an enormous void on our country’s sets,” Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said in a statement, posted to X, in Spanish. “Coco,” which was released in 2017, brought Murguía to an international audience late in life.
But the actor had a long acting career in Mexican film and television, and on the stage. She appeared in some 70 plays and 90 movies, including ‘Life Sentence’ (1979) and ‘The Queen of the Night’ (1994).
In the animated “‘Coco,” she voiced the soft-spoken great-grandmother of a boy discovering his family’s musical history. In April, the National Autonomous University of Mexico awarded Murguía its Ingmar Bergman Medal for leaving “an indelible mark” on Mexican film and theater.
In her acceptance speech, Murguía displayed her typical humility, asking “Why me?” She said she was exhausted by all of the recognition and plaudits.
“This career has been my life,” Murguía said. “It has been the passion of my life. I’ve loved it.”
In other news – Tom Wilkinson dies at 75
Tom Wilkinson, a two-time Academy Award nominee for his roles in the 2001 drama In the Bedroom and 2007 legal thriller Michael Clayton, has died, ET can confirm. He was 75.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30th,” read a family statement provided to ET by Wilkinson’s rep. “His wife and family were with him. The family asks for privacy at this time.” Read More