The Mexican actor Hector Bonilla has died this Friday at the age of 83 after waging a tough battle against cancer for years. The interpreter, one of the most recognized faces of acting in Mexico and Latin America, is remembered for his role in the film Red Dawn, as well as for his participation in dozens of soap operas, movies and plays. The Ministry of Culture has lamented the death of the actor and has elevated him as one of the best actors the country has produced in decades.
Bonilla announced that she had kidney cancer four years ago. His family has indicated in a statement that he “died in his house, in peace, without pain and surrounded by his closest circle.” “We are aware that Hector left an immeasurable legacy and many hearts will mourn the loss of him,” reads the message from his relatives. “Know that, despite the infinite sadness that overwhelms us, we are calm to say goodbye to a man who left without owing anything to anyone, who lived intensely and fully, who always led by example,” he adds.
“The show is over, don’t mess around. He who saw me, he saw me. Nothing remains”. That is the epitaph left by the first actor, with a career spanning more than six decades. He began in projects that date back to the sixties and remained in force in films, documentaries, plays and television series until well into 2018. A talented and versatile man, Bonilla also ventured into dubbing, stage direction and as a narrator. .
Red Dawn It was an iconic film, the first that openly dealt with the open wound of the 1968 student movement, despite the limited freedom of expression that existed in the country’s cultural sphere. In the 1989 film, Bonilla plays a family man affected by the Tlatelolco massacre, a role that earned him international fame and in which he shared credits with actors such as Maria Rojo, Jorge Fegan, Ademar Arau and the brothers Bruno and Demian Bichir. The director, Jorge Fons, passed away last September.
“I regret the death of Hector Bonilla, a great actor, honest and always with firm convictions,” said the president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, after hearing the news. “The dearest Hector Bonilla has died. I loved it very much. He was a great man, a talented, upright, and friendly partner, ”producer Epigmenio Ibarra lamented on his part. “My dad prepared his farewell many years ago. He wrote it around 2004, since then he was very clear about what this day meant ”, his son Fernando Bonilla has written after uploading a will sung and set to music by the actor during the pandemic. “I have never been practical or serious / and without fortune, the luckiest / owner of nothing, I go to the cemetery / naked, calm, in love”, sings the renowned artist.
Bonilla was a graduate of the School of Theater Art of the National Institute of Fine Arts. He was nominated for and won two Ariel Awards, the highest film award in Mexico. He was also recognized in 2019 with a Golden Ariel for his extensive artistic career. The first actor did practically everything during his career: countless soap operas like Woman’s look, The Lord of the heavens Y vivian; special participations in Coconut, the jungle book Y The guy from the eight, and productions on milestones in the history of Mexico such as the 1985 earthquake, the Porfiriato or the massacre on Corpus Thursday. In politics, he was a deputy of the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.
Despite the fact that the doctors said that his condition was stable, the actor declared in some of his last interviews that he lived “overtime”. “If I can live ten more years, it would be a tip that life gives me, but I’m not distressed or whipped, I just want to continue working on what I do: writing, directing, acting and completing my cycle,” he told the magazine. TV and novels in April of this year. Bonilla had been married to Sofia Alvarez for four decades, had three children and seven grandchildren. “I love life deeply,” the actor declared months before his death. “I could not ask for more”.
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