RIP Pepe Soriano

 

Pepe Soriano died: the actor and director was 93 years old 

The news of his death was announced on Twitter by theatrical producer Carlos Rottemberg; he had said goodbye to the stage in 2020, but in April of this year he had participated in the tribute that Héctor Alterio received at the CCK

La Nacion

September 13, 2023

 

Actor and director Pepe Soriano, with an extensive career in film, television and theater, died Wednesday at age 93. Although he had retired from the stage in 2020, he remained very active and in contact with his colleagues, as he demonstrated in April, during the tribute that was given to Héctor Alterio at the CCK. According to what LA NACIÓN learned, he was hospitalized in a Buenos Aires clinic with a picture of kidney failure.

The news about his death was announced on Twitter by theatrical producer Carlos Rottemberg: "He left a great. The death of Pepe Soriano goes deep into our feelings. With him goes a friend. Then the great actor, one of the best in this country. Huge kiss for Diana, Victoria and family."

His colleague, actor Osvaldo Santoro, dismissed Pepe Soriano on social media, describing him as "an example of life." "Dear Pepe. Rise peacefully to eternity, because on earth you have fulfilled your talent, your gift of people and your unwavering commitment to fellow actors and actresses. Personally, I will carry you in my heart because you were an example of life for me. May you rest in peace," the artist wrote on his Twitter account to say goodbye to his colleague and friend.

José Carlos Soriano was born in Buenos Aires on September 25, 1929. Throughout his life, he stood out in theater (La nona, El loro calabrés, Gris de ausencia, El violinista en el tejado), on television (Alta comedia, Los especiales de ATC, RR. DT, La leona) and, especially, in cinema (La Patagonia rebelde, Los gauchos judíos, La nona, Juan Lamaglia y Sra., Asesinato en el Senado de la Nación, Una sombra ya pronto serás).

His last interview with LA NACION

The economic difficulties faced by film creators and the world of theater to promote new productions and the consequent decrease in the hiring of actors and actresses were the subject of conversation yesterday among colleagues at the annual meeting of the Argentine Society of Management of Actors and Interpreters (SAGAI) held in Palermo.

In conversation with LA NACIÓN, the emblematic actor and director made a strong disclaimer against the lack of greater support from public administrations to promote cultural expressions. "This country, in addition to having an economy that is doing better or worse, has people who write, who think, a culture that is exemplary in America. Comparing ourselves with the Americans, since Mr. [Donald] Trump has such a good place here, I would say that they have more money but I do not know if more talent. Dear leaders of the country: culture grows from education, not only from the economic fact. The country has a culture, let's defend it. Or do they want us to leave?" said Soriano.

Likewise, Soriano expressed his desire to see his colleagues "working with joy, without ranting against the country or having to go elsewhere to seek better results."

On television productions, he retained a minimum optimism. "The way television is used does not represent us and it is useless to compete against the big international monsters like Netflix. They make series that cost millions of dollars, where are we going to get them? However, we could express ourselves the same if the channels felt that they had creative people: technicians, executives, actors. If they give us the place, we can do something," he said.

On the other hand, Soriano highlighted again and again the human capital that the seventh art has in the country. Zama, the feature film by director Lucrecia Martel, had shocked the actor. "I was deeply moved. I still can't describe it much, I can't know what provoked me. It has a beautiful cast, discipline, top-notch technique; It is of international level. Let the leaders of the country know that we also have cinema, please. I'm not getting angry, I'm asking please," he said.

One of his last public appearances

In April of this year, Soriano was seen in the tribute that was made to Héctor Alterio at the Kirchner Cultural Center, when the actor of Caballos salvajes was reunited with his friends and colleagues in the debut function of A Buenos Aires.

When he appeared on stage, the 700 people who filled the room stood up to applaud him and Soriano was one of the great figures to join the tribute, with whom Alterio melted into a hug in the front row that moved those present. "It's like seeing the embrace between San Martin and Belgrano," said Georgina Barbarossa about that moment when two titans, who stood out in the huge rebellious Patagonia, were moved to see themselves in such a special context.

In one of the postcards that LA NACIÓN recorded at that time, Soriano could be seen talking with an indelible smile with the actors Ricardo Darín, Eduardo Blanco and Gerardo Romano, in what was a very heartfelt day in which he also received the affection and noisy applause of his peers.

In 2019, the actor was part of the theatrical adaptation of the comedy by Rafael Bruza from Santa Fe, which premiered in January of that year at the Piccadilly Theater, with the works of Gustavo Garzón, Víctor Laplace and Osvaldo Laport. The actors played four medical visitors who shared the troubles of life and their respective heartbreaks.

"The pain of love is so great and so impossible to explain that perhaps the only way to release it is through humor. And Bruza achieves that," Garzón said in a dialogue with LA NACIÓN about the work that Soriano would say goodbye to the following year, due to health complications. Pepe himself, also in a chat with this medium, described his character, El Mudo.

"Essentially, he wasn't mute," Soriano explained. It seems that he had an enormous love for his wife and the day she died, he fell silent. In Tucumán, I met a beautiful poet who reminds me of this character: he was quadriplegic and did not understand anything he said, but he had a group of fellow actors and actresses who translated what he pronounced. 'He says such a thing,' they explained to one what he had meant. The great poems he made he wrote dictating to other things that he could not write or say, "he shared and alluded to how the work addressed the stereotypes of machismo.

"Rotos de amor claims inclusion in the face of that world that criticized what was outside the limits set by society. Man, female, female, male; Anything that went beyond those limits was condemnable, even death or marginalization. Today, fortunately, that monument that rose from machismo is collapsing. Of course it will take a long time to reach total conviction, but who has been touched by a love story, has shed tears. Me too," said the actor.

In February 2020, his colleagues expressed how much they would miss him. At that time, Garzón was no longer in the set, since he had been replaced by Hugo Arana, and Soriano's farewell took place at the Teatro del Sol in Villa Carlos Paz, where the audience gave him great support in that last function.

SORIANO, Pepe (José Carlos Soriano)

Born: 9/25/1929, Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Died: 9/13/2023, Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

 

Pepe Soriano’s westerns – actor:

Rebellion in Patagonia – 1974 (Schultz)

The Last Train – 2002 (Dante)