Mexico City (EFE) urgently this week for pneumonia and intestinal occlusion.
Due to this health condition, the actor was hospitalized and in intermediate therapy, although his condition was reported as “not serious,” his son, Juan Ignacio Aranda, told the media on Friday.
“Dear Ignacio López Tarso, you were one of the most important actors in our country, your great talent and passion during your 7-decade career leave an indelible mark on the performing arts, film, and television in Mexico. Rest in peace, dear teacher,” the head of the Mexican Ministry of Culture, Alejandra Frausto, wrote in a message on social networks.
Ignatius and his story
In addition to the aforementioned films, the actor stood out in films such as “El gallo de oro” from 1964 and “La vida inútil de Pito Pérez” from 1969, which marked his long professional career.
López Tarso was born on January 15, 1925 in Mexico City and was always passionate about acting in film, theater and television and only stopped when he had health problems or during the covid-19 pandemic.
At 96 years old, two years ago, López was ready to return to the stage in person and, in order to do so, he was in the process of physical rehabilitation, his son Juan Ignacio Aranda reported.
“The pandemic has made us very sedentary and the play ‘A life in the theater’ is very demanding, neither my father nor I are in the physical condition to do it,” Aranda told the media.
Theatre, one of his passions
With “Una vida en el teatro”, father and son talked about the life of an established actor and another with an uncertain future. In it, the frustrations, dreams and personal emotions of its characters are exposed through the theater.
The play celebrated the 70-year career of López Tarso, one of the most important Mexican actors and who has made more than 50 films in his career, and countless plays and television programs.
The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico deeply regretted the death of Ignacio López Tarso, “one of the greatest actors in Mexico. He excelled in theater, television and cinema, being “Macario” the film that consolidated him in the collective memory of our country.
In theater, the actor interpreted more than 100 works such as “Oedipus Rex”, “Hippolytus”, “Macbeth”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “The Miser”, “Cyrano de Bergerac”, “Dracula” and “12 Men in Fight”, among dozens of works.
In 2007 López Tarso obtained the “Ariel de Oro” for his film career and was also distinguished with the 2015 National Science and Arts Award.
In addition, the actor is honored that in Mexico City there is a theater that bears his name, a fact that, after his death, becomes even more relevant to honor his talent and memory.
Politics: another front in his life
Apart from his artistic vocation, he explored other fields such as politics, a field in which he managed to be a federal deputy for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) from 1988 to 1991.
In July 2019, López Tarso gave his opinion on the political change experienced in the country and highlighted the work of his beloved party, the PRI, which ruled Mexico for more than 70 years.
“It was time for another party to come along with enough force to displace it (the PRI) the change of government and style of governing is good, it is good for Mexico, so they will discover that the best they have had is the PRI” said the actor in an interview.
In it, he refused to comment on the work of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has governed since December 1, 2018 after winning with the leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena).
The last name López Tarso is not entirely real, since the real name of the actor is Ignacio López López.
Changing it was a recommendation from the writer Xavier Villaurrutia, who warned him that with such a common name he would not achieve success.
The “Tarsus” is owed to the Roman apostle Saint Paul, since he was originally from the city of Tarsus, in Turkey, a name that seduced the actor and accompanied him during his successes.
The actor, unmistakable due to his abundant gray hair, his brown complexion and slight indigenous features, died with the certainty of having done what he loved the most until the last minute: getting on stage, playing someone else to, thus, tell stories to people.