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Ana Ofelia Murguía, the Mexican actress best known for portraying the title character in the 2017 Disney and Pixar animated film Coco, died on Sunday, December 31, BBC News reports. She was 90.
“Coco,” about a little boy who crosses into the land of the dead during Día de los Muertos in Mexico, won two Oscars: best animated feature and best original song for “Remember Me.” Murguía voices the aging mom Coco, whose memory of her father is rekindled by her great-grandson Miguel. At the emotional climax, Murguía's Coco sings the film's central song, “Remember Me,” with Miguel.
“Coco” was praised for its portrayal of Mexican culture and acclaimed for its exploration of heavy themes such as death through the lens of a children’s film.
Mexico's National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature acknowledged Murguía on X/Twitter and wrote that her “career has been vital to the performing arts of Mexico.”
Murguía, who was born in Mexico in 1933, won the Golden Ariel Special Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 at a ceremony honoring the best in Mexican cinema. The prize was awarded jointly to the author and director Jorge Fons. Throughout her career, Murguía won Best Supporting Actress at the Ariel Awards (Mexico's equivalent of the Oscars) in 1979, 1986 and 1996.
With more than 100 acting credits under her belt, Murguía starred in an episode of the Mexican telenovela “La Tormenta.” Her most famous roles include 1994's The Queen of the Night, 1992's Mi Querido Tom Mix and 1979's Life Sentence.
Murguía's last acting role was in a 2018 episode of “José José: El Príncipe de la Canción,” a fictional retelling of the famous Mexican singer's life story.