A legend has just crossed over into the Land of the Dead. Mexican actor Ana Ofelia Murguía, who, among over 100 other films, provided the voice of Mama Coco in Pixar’s Coco, died over the weekend at the age of 90, as reported by Variety.
One of the last stars born during the “Golden Age of Mexican Cinema”
Born in 1933 in Mexico City, Murguía came up during what is largely considered Mexico’s cinematic Golden Age (1936-1956). Inspired by a booming film industry that put Mexico on the map as a creative force to be reckoned with, the young Murguía attended the theater school at Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts, after which she began a stage career.
Her first TV role came in 1967, kicking off a film and television career spanning over 50 years and 100 film and TV credits that made her one of the most popular actors in Mexico. Some of her most well-known credits include The Queen of the Night (1994), Mi Querido Tom Mix (1992), and Life Sentence (1979).
If you were a fan of the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, you might remember Murguía from the season 2 episode “How to Make God Laugh” (2015), in which Bernal’s brash conductor, Rodrigo, brings up-and-coming conductor Hailey (Lola Kirke) home with him to Mexico, giving her a glimpse of the world that made him who he is. Murguía played his Nana Graciela.
Breaking our hearts as Mama Coco
But, of course, the role for which she’s best known by us geeky fans of Pixar is Mama Coco in the 2017 film Coco. For a film that meant so much to Mexican-American audiences in particular and Latine audiences in general, it made sense to cast a Mexican star who was an institution in the pivotal role of Mama Coco. This provided the already well-crafted character and family dynamic with an added layer of poignance that came through in her handful of scenes.
The above scene with Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), where they sing “Remember Me” together, makes me cry no matter how many times I watch it, and it’s largely to do with the nostalgia and bouyance in Murguía’s voice performance.
Adiós, Doña Murguía. Que en paz descanses. I hope that your reunion with your ancestors is joyful.
(featured image: Jaime Nogales/Medios y Media/Getty Images and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
