R.I.P. Ana Ofelia Murguía: ‘Coco’ Voice Star Dead At 90

Ana Ofelia Murguía, the Mexican actress best known for voicing Mama Coco in the 2017 Disney and Pixar animated film Coco, has died. She was 90.

Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature announced the news “with deep sadness” in a social media post on Sunday (Dec. 31), adding that Murguía’s “artistic career was vital for the performing arts of Mexico.”

The actress voiced the titular character in Coco, which later won two Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me.” Set during the annual Day of the Dead festival, the movie follows a young boy who crosses into the Land of the Dead, where he looks to his great-great-grandfather to help him return to his living family and reverse their generations-long ban on music. Murguía voices the boy’s great-great-grandmother, who joins him in singing “Remember Me.”

While accepting the Academy Award, producer Lee Unkrich credited Mexico’s “endlessly beautiful culture and traditions” with making the film such a success.

“With Coco, we tried to take a step forward toward a world where all children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look and talk and live like they do,” he said, per BBC. “Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters.”

Born in Mexico City in 1933, Murguía first starred in an episode of the Mexican telenovela La Tormenta. She also appeared in The Queen of the Night (1994), Nobody Will Speak of Us When We’re Dead (1995), Mi Querido Tom Mix (1992) and Life Sentence (1979). Her most recent role was in 2018 when she played Abuela Carmelita in José José: El príncipe de la canción.

At the 2011 Ariel Awards, which are Mexico’s equivalent to the Oscars, Murguía was honored with the Golden Ariel Special Lifetime Achievement award along with writer and director Jorge Fons, per Variety. While the star never won an Ariel for Best Actress (despite her five nominations), she has won Best Supporting Actress three times: in 1979, 1986 and 1996.

“Acting has been the passion of my life, I have never worked to collect an award,” Murguía said while accepting the Ingmar Bergman Chair Medal in April 2023, per Entertainment Weekly. “I have always loved this career, which I found by pure fluke. I’m happy. I feel like a very lucky woman.”