Ana Ofelia Murguía, actress who voiced Mama Coco in Coco, dies aged 90

Mexican actress Ana Ofelia Murguía, best known for her role in the Disney Pixar animated film Coco, died at the age of 90 on Tuesday, January 2. Murguía, whose career in film spanned more than four decades, gave her voice to great-grandmother Mama Coco in the acclaimed children’s film. She was acknowledged as one of the last living stars of Mexican cinema's Golden Age. 

NIFA Mexico issues statement on Murguía’s death 

Mexico’s National Fine Arts Institute announced Murguía’s death Sunday without providing a cause of death. “She leaves an enormous void on our country’s sets,” Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto Guerrero said in a statement.

Coco, which was released in 2017, brought Murguía to an international audience late in life. But the actor had a long acting career in Mexican film and television, and on the stage. She appeared in some 70 plays and 90 movies, including Life Sentence (1979) and The Queen of the Night (1994).

In the animated Coco, she voiced the soft-spoken great-grandmother of a boy discovering his family’s musical history. 

Ana Ofelia Murguía’s legacy 

In April, the National Autonomous University of Mexico awarded Murguía its Ingmar Bergman Medal for leaving “an indelible mark” on Mexican film and theater.

In her acceptance speech, Murguía displayed her typical humility, asking “Why me?” She said she was exhausted by all of the recognition and plaudits. “This career has been my life,” Murguía said. “It has been the passion of my life. I’ve loved it.”

(with inputs from AP)