MEXICO CITY — Mexican actress Ana Ofelia Murguía, who played the character “Mama Coco” in the popular Pixar film “Coco,” has died, Mexican officials said. She was 90 years old.
Mexico's National Institute of Fine Arts announced Murguía's death on Sunday, without providing a cause.
“She leaves a huge void on our country’s film sets,” Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said in a statement.
“Coco,” released in 2017, brought Murguía to an international audience late in life.
But the actor has had a long acting career in Mexican film and television, as well as on stage. She appeared in some 70 plays and 90 films, including “Life Sentence” (1979) and “Queen of the Night” (1994).
In the animated film “Coco,” she plays the soft-spoken great-grandmother of a boy who discovers her 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 cinema and theater.
In his acceptance speech, Murguía displayed his typical humility by asking “Why me?” » She said she was exhausted from all the recognition and applause.
“This career has been my life,” Murguía said. “It has been my life’s passion. I loved.