January 1, 2024 at 2:08 p.m
Ana Ofelia Murguía, a well-known Mexican actress who portrayed Mama Coco in the 2017 Pixar film “Coco,” died on Sunday at the age of 90.
News of her death was shared on social media by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, also known as INBAL).
“It is with deep sadness that we regret the death of the actress Ana Ofelia Murguía, who was part of the cast of the @CNTeatromx (National Theater Group) of Inbal and whose artistic career was crucial for the performing arts in Mexico,” the tribute continued.
With deep sadness she complains about the sensible decision of the first actress Ana Ofelia Murguía, who is part of the stable cast @CNTeatromx del #INBAL And your artist is vital to Mexico's artistic scenes.
Enviamos condolencias y abrazamos con… pic.twitter.com/BnEkpxG4k2
— National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (@bellasartesinba) December 31, 2023
Murguía's 40-year career in theater, film and television includes roles in Prime Video's Gael García Bernal-directed Mozart in the Jungle, as well as the films Tear This Heart Out, The Queen of the Night and No One. . We will speak of ourselves when we are dead” with Victoria Abril. She appeared in 70 plays and more than 90 films.
“Her great acting quality will remain in the artistic memory of Mexico,” Mexico City’s Ministry of Culture said on X.
“She leaves an enormous void on the sets of our country,” Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said in a statement.
Murguía won Mexico's Ariel Award, the country's equivalent of the Oscar, three times. In 2011 she was awarded the Golden Ariel for her professional achievements.
She also won an individual and ensemble award for Behind the Voice Actors for voicing the elderly grandmother in “Coco,” whose memories prove key to the main character's search for her late father in the afterlife.
Murguía was born in Mexico in 1933 and graduated from INBAL. She got her start in a 1967 episode of the Mexican telenovela “La Tormenta.”
Her last role was in an episode of the Telemundo series “José José: El Príncipe de la Canción” in 2018.
Ana Ofelia Murguía, best known to international audiences as the voice of “Mama Coco” in Pixar’s “Coco,” died shortly after her 90th birthday.
She was a renowned theater and film actress in her native Mexico, winning several Ariel Awards, the country's equivalent… pic.twitter.com/HkiBQQ5n8V
— Hector Navarro (@imhectornavarro) January 1, 2024