Acclaimed Mexican actor Ana Ofelia Murguía, voice of Mama Coco, dead at 90
Acclaimed Mexican actor Ana Ofelia Murguía has died. She was best known in the U.S. for voicing the elderly matriarch, Mama Coco, in the 2017 Disney Pixar film Coco. She was 90 years old.
The Mexican National Institute of Fine Arts announced her death on social media over the weekend.
As Mama Coco, Murguía voiced a woman who is losing her memory, grasping on to what little she remembers of her father. But the movie culminates in the big song, "Remember Me," where her great-grandson helps her remember her father through music. "Remember Me" won that year's Oscar for Best Original Song.
Murguía was born in 1933. She made her on-stage debut in 1954 in Trial By Fire, a play based on Arthur Miller's The Crucible. From there she began a long career in acting that spanned decades, on stage, television, and in film. She was drawn to a wide variety of roles – from villains in noir films to dreamers in more sentimental movies. In 1978's Naufragio, she plays a mother wishing for her son to come home. In Mi querido Tom Mix, she plays a grandmother adamant about her love for her favorite on-screen cowboy, Tom Mix.
She earned multiple awards for her work. In 2023, the National Autonomous University of Mexico gave her its Ingmar Bergman Medal for her acting. At the ceremony, fans and peers praised her long career. When it was Murguía's turn to speak, she said that she was exhausted from all the attention. "Why me?" she asked. "Why for me?"
But she accepted the award graciously and told the crowd that if you work hard, there will be people who notice. "And that's the marvelous thing," she said.
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Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Ana Ofelia Murguia is best known in the U.S. as the voice of Mama Coco in the 2017 Disney Pixar movie "Coco." In Mexico, she was a well-known actor known for her work across film, television and theater. She died on Sunday at the age of 90. Mexico's National Institute of Fine Arts announced her death on social media over the weekend. NPR's Andrew Limbong has this appreciation.
ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: The 1978 movie "Naufragio" opens with a woman in a robe prepping what looks like a boy's room. We see travel posters on the wall, a globe on the desk as she unmakes the bed and lays out some clothes and tells herself that he will be here tomorrow.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NAUFRAGIO")
ANA OFELIA MURGUIA: (As Amparo, speaking Spanish).
LIMBONG: He is her son, Miguel. And we know, through Ana Ofelia Murguia's longing looks, that this is more wishful thinking than anything else. Murguia brings that same dreamlike quality to her role in 1991's "Mi Querido Tom Mix," where she plays a grandma proudly declaring that no one is faster than her favorite onscreen cowboy, Tom Mix.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MI QUERIDO TOM MIX")
MURGUIA: (As Joaquina, speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Spanish).
LIMBONG: And, of course, in 2017's "Coco," she voices Mama Coco, the aging matriarch who is losing her memory, grasping onto what little she remembers of her father.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")
RENEE VICTOR: (As Abuelita) Papa is home, Mama. (Speaking Spanish).
MURGUIA: (As Mama Coco) Papa is coming home?
VICTOR: (As Abuelita) No, Mama. It's OK. I'm here.
MURGUIA: (As Mama Coco) Who are you?
LIMBONG: Ana Ofelia Murguia was born in 1933. She made her onstage debut in 1954 in "Trial By Fire." Her acting career spanned decades, racking up prestigious awards, including multiple Ariel Awards, Mexico's Oscars. Earlier this year, the National Autonomous University of Mexico gave her its Ingmar Bergman medal for her acting work. At the ceremony, fans and peers spoke lovingly about her work. But when it was Murguia's turn to speak, she said...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MURGUIA: (Speaking Spanish).
LIMBONG: That she was exhausted from all the attention and, why for me?
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MURGUIA: (Speaking Spanish).
LIMBONG: But it's because of moments like the big song in "Coco" where Ana Ofelia Murguia's Mama Coco remembers her father with her great-grandson's help.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COCO")
ANTHONY GONZALEZ AND ANA OFELIA MURGUIA: (As Miguel and Mama Coco, singing) Until you're in my arms again, remember me.
LIMBONG: Andrew Limbong, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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