December 29, 2021
Alfonso Mejía, a golden film figure and “Pedro” in Luis Buñuel's Los Olivos, has died.
He was 15 years old when he was chosen to give life to the protagonist of the emblematic film by the Spanish director, a film awarded by UNESCO
The death of Alfonso Mejía Silvia , one of the actors who stood out in Mexican gold films and who was part of the cast of the emblematic Mexican film Los Olivos , released in 1950, has been announced. This was announced by the account of Televisa Espectáculos Twitter:
“Alfonso Mejía Silva died of natural causes, remembered for his role as Pedro in Luis Buñuel's The Forgotten, considered Memory of the World by UNESCO. He was 87 years old. "
The film that caused a stir in its time and conflicting opinions by showing the harshness of precariousness in Mexico City, was starred by the now deceased artist, who would later become the heartthrob of the so-called golden age.
Alfonso Mejía was born in the capital city on December 16, 1934. It was at 15 when by a group of friends who encouraged him, he auditioned for the Ultramar Films production house to choose the main character of the film from the creative period of “Mexican Buñuel ”.
Finally, thanks to his histrionic gifts and his expressive face, Alfonso was chosen for the film that painted a "very degrading portrait of social classes", according to the opinion of some characters of those years. Such is the case of Jorge Negrete, who at that time presided over the National Association of ANDA Actors and tried to persuade Buñuel to film the story, by giving an image that, he claimed, "did not correspond to Mexico."
After his success in the film, which managed to appear at the Cannes festival and won 11 Ariel awards from the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Sciences and Arts, including the one for Best Child Actor for Mejía, the actor developed a prolific career in the cinema.
He also received two nominations: one for the film Our Father, from 1954, and another for The Tunnel, from 1956. He also stood out in other films such as La bienamada (1951), directed by Emilio Fernández. In Unbridled Youth he alternated with Columba Domínguez in 1956, to later appear in The Age of Temptation, in 1959.
In 1952 he participated with Arturo de Córdova, Ramón Gay and Marga López in My wife and the other; With Maricruz Olivier and Tere Velázquez he stood out in Quinceañera, 1960, followed by Tomorrow will be men, Youth without God and For my pistols, where he appeared alongside Mario Moreno Cantinflas, in 1968.
The last film appearance of the deceased actor was in the year of 1970, in Rubí, starring the also disappeared Iran Eory.
It is known that after that filming he decided to retire from artistic life to dedicate his time to his family, made up of his wife Carmelita -who was his admirer for years and with whom hefew years resting in Chihuahua.
After his retirement, he dedicated himself to working in that town, on Channel 28 television, performing work as a producer and advisor. He also served as a teacher at the Television Training Center.
In 2011 he was contacted by Vanguardia magazine, where he commented on his approach to Luis Buñuel's production: “The first contact I had with Buñuel was at the Tepeyac Studios, I went to Bar Loth, the back, and I he started making a find and finished the film, he participated in the Cannes festival. Later with the Academy of Cinematographic Arts he won eleven Arieles. I started working in the cinema because they called me, I worked with Indio Fernández, with Chano Urueta, in El tunnel six, a very good movie. Then I did the one in Tarahumara in Chihuahua with Luis Arcoriza”, he recalled then.
"I feel that people come to live in oblivion, nobody remembers you, only the people who are close to the film industry, or who are going to be film sociologists ... come to the cinema because you have to see what great geniuses like Luis Buñuel filmed with a natural way”, said the late actor today.
MEJIA, Alfonso (Alfonso Mejia Silva)
Born: 11/16/1934, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico
Died: 12/27/2021, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
Alfonso Mejia’s westerns – actor:
Puños de Roca – 1960 (Awake Bear)
Río Hondo – 1965 (Miguel)
Por mis Pistolas – 1968 (Pablo Sanchez)
Arriba las mano Texano – 1969
No comments:
Post a Comment