Mexican Actress Ana Ofelia Murguía, Who Voiced Mama Coco in ‘Coco,’ Dies at 90

(L–R) British actor Alex Cox, Mexican actress Blanca Guerra and Ana Ofelia Murguia, Mexican film director Arturo Ripstein, and Mexican Actress Patricia Reyes Spindola pose for the presentation of the film "La Reina de la noche" as part of the 47th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 19, 1994. (Georges Bendrihem/AFP via Getty Images)

MEXICO CITY—Mexican actress 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 Ms. 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 Ms. Murguía to an international audience late in life.

But the actress 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.

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In April, the National Autonomous University of Mexico awarded Ms. Murguía its Ingmar Bergman Medal for leaving “an indelible mark” on Mexican film and theater.

In her acceptance speech, Ms. 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,” Ms. Murguía said. “It has been the passion of my life. I’ve loved it.”