Mexican actor Ignacio Lopez Tarso dies at 98 – Billboard

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Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso, who developed a prolific career in film, theater, music and television in his country for more than seven decades, passed away Saturday (March 11) in Mexico City, confirming his family and the National Association of Interpreters. Mexico on his Twitter account. He was 98 years old.

López Tarso has been hospitalized since March 3 with pneumonia and an intestinal obstruction, according to information from his family.

The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts, mourned the death of the iconic actor, whom it called “one of the greatest actors in Mexico.”

The artist leaves a vast legacy that includes his time in music, through revolutionary passages and recordings with traditional mariachi, over 50 films, over a hundred plays and over a thousand appearances in soap operas, one-man programs and soap operas.

He recorded eight albums with CBS, and came to share the stage with legendary Mexican music composer Jose Alfredo Jimenez.

Among his performances are “The Death of Emiliano Zapata”, “Wake Up Mexicans”, “The Persecution of Villa”, “Catarino Maravillas” and “The Elders”.

His recent involvement with music is framed in the Overture Bad Guy Vol. IIthe 2022 album released by his grandson, Grammy Award-winning Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez.

Idol of the golden age of Mexican cinema, López Tarso was born in Mexico City on January 15, 1925. He had his first foray into acting at the age of eight, after attending a stage show in a tent where his parents took him, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education.

His most famous work in cinema was in “Macario” by Roberto Gavaldón, the first Mexican production nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, in 1961.

He has also worked with famous film directors such as Luis Buñuel, Ismail Rodriguez, Luis Alcoriza, Jorge Fence, and John Huston, among others. He was co-credited with legendary Mexican actresses María Félix and Silvia Pinal.

In the theater he is remembered for such works as “Oedipus Rex”, “Macbeth”, “Othello”, “12 Fighters” and “The Tempest”.

Likewise, he was Secretary General of the National Actors Association and a Federal Attorney from 1988 to 1991.

In 2007, the Mexican Film Academy awarded him the Order of Ariel de Oro, and on several occasions he has been honored by the Mexican government. In 2015 he was awarded the National Prize for Sciences and Arts and in 2022 he was honored by the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.