by Alfredo Galindo
November 2nd is the Day of the Dead. The time to honor those who departed before us to the other side and just like movies like The Book of Life or the Academy Award Winning Film “Coco” (2017), as the Mexican tradition tells, the loved ones come back to visit the shrine they built up and decorated with pictures, food and music they liked in the world of the living to party on and be back recharged with love and joy to the world beyond. That said, we will honor the main Mexican stars who have left their mark in Hollywood and deserve we honor and celebrate for this occasion:
ANTHONY QUINN (1915-2001)
Born as Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, the world knew him on the big screen as Anthony Quinn, made history as the first Mexican actor to win not one, but two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Elia Kazan´s “Viva Zapata!” (1952) and Vincente Minnelli’s “Lust for Life” (1956), which roles as Marlon Brando´s biographical film of Mexican revolutionary icon Emiliano Zapata and French artist Paul Gaugin opposite Kirk Douglas in the biographical film of Vincent Van Gogh summon the value of his whole filmography, defined by his force and versatility to play powerful characters of different ethnicity. Make sure to catch actor Paul Calderon’s tribute to Quinn as he remembers working with him on The Old Man and the Sea.
KATY JURADO (1924-2002)
Born as María Cristina Estela Jurado García was best known to moviegoers as Katy Jurado, the first Mexican actress to win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the classic western “High Noon” (Fred Zinnemann, 1952), alongside Academy Award Winners Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, and the first Mexican actress to get an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress of 1954 for Edward Dmytryk´s “Broken Lance”, starring with Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner. Visiting her Hollywood Walk of Fame Star the day she died on July 5th, 2002, Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant told me: “She was one of the greats”.
CANTINFLAS (1911-1993)
Born as Mario Moreno Reyes, he became Cantinflas first in the itinerary “carpas” (big tents where the audiences went to see political but comedic sketches at the time) and then in the Mexican cinema before his crossover to Hollywood on the side of British icon David Niven in the Academy Award Winner for Best Picture of 1956, Michael Anderson’s “Around the World in 80 Days”, which made him the first Mexican actor to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical of 1956, winning over Yul Brynner, who later on won his own Academy Award for Best Actor of 1956 for Walter Lang´s “The King and I”.
ANA OFELIA MURGUÍA (1933-2023)
Winner of 5 Ariel Awards (Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), including an Honorary one for her long filmography, Miss Murguia might have been known widely as Mamá Coco, the grandmother of the lead character of the aforementioned contemporary animated classic “Coco” (2017) at age 88, but this wasn’t her first work for a Hollywood production as she told me in the podcast “125 y contando”, she had memorable experiences with foreign actors such as Liv Ullman in the Academy Award nominated film “Gaby, A True Story” (Luis Mandoki, 1987) and Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins “One Man´s War” (1991).
ERNESTO GÓMEZ CRUZ (1933-2024)
Winner of 6 Ariel Awards, including an Honorary one, Mr. Gomez Cruz passed away last April at age 90 after a long and prolific filmography which included his participation in classics from Chicano filmmakers such as Jesus Salvador Treviño´s “Raíces de sangre” (1976), a Mexican co-production about the unfair labor practices at a garment factory bringing tensions between the workers to a boiling point, and Gregory Nava´s “El Norte”, Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay of 1983 playing the indigenous father of the main characters played by David Villalpando and Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez.
Featured photo by Frederik Trovatten