Ana Ofelia Murguía, Voice of Mama Coco in ‘Coco,’ Dies at 90

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican actor Ana Ofelia Murguía, who gave voice to the character of “Mama Coco” in the popular Pixar film Coco, has died, Mexican officials said. She was 90.

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.

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.”