Ignacio López Tarso

Ignacio López Tarso (born Ignacio López López; 15 January 1925 – 11 March 2023) was a Mexican actor of stage, film and television. He acted in about 50 films and appeared in documentaries and in one short feature. In 1973 he was given the Ariel Award for Best Actor for Rosa Blanca, and the Ariel de Oro lifetime achievement award in 2007. He was honored multiple times at the TVyNovelas Awards. At the time of his death, along with Armando Silvestre, he was the oldest living actor and one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

Biography Early life and education López Tarso was born in Mexico City to parents Alfonso López Bermúdez and Ignacia López Herrera, first cousins from the state of Guanajuato. Because of his father's job, he spent his childhood in several cities including Veracruz, Hermosillo, Navojoa and Guadalajara. He had two siblings: Alfonso and Marta. At around age 8–9, when he was in Guadalajara, his parents took him to see a play, where he became interested in acting.

López Tarso lived in Valle de Bravo, Estado de México, where he went to secondary school. Although his family's economic problems kept him from attending high school, he joined seminaries in Temascalcingo, Estado de México, and Mexico City to continue his education. During his time there, a visiting priest from the United States organized a group to perform plays, in which he participated. He learned to read oral poetry and books of classical plays, including those by Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca.

When he was 20, he joined the military service at Querétaro, where he was in barracks for about a year. He also served in the Veracruz and Monterrey regiments, and eventually reached First Sergeant grade. After completing his service, he declined an opportunity to attend military school, even though he liked the discipline.

López Tarso worked in Mexico City as a sales agent for a clothing company. He aspired to work in the United States, and planned to work at an orange grove in Merced, California. However, a few days in, he fell from a tree and injured his vertebrae. He returned to Mexico City for rehabilitation therapy which lasted about a year.

Theatre

While López was in physical therapy, he read books on poetry and theatre, and became a fan of author Xavier Villaurrutia. After his recovery, he heard that Villaurrutia was teaching theatre at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, so he visited him, initially to ask for his autograph, but then was invited to listen in on his lessons. After a few days, he formally joined the theatre academy at age 24. When Villaurrutia advised Lopez to pick a stage name, he changed from "López López" to "López Tarso"; the Tarso was Spanish for Paul the Apostle's hometown of Tarsus, and also one of the cities in Mexico where Lopez had once lived. Besides Villaurrutia, he studied under other masters such as Salvador Novo, Clementina Otero, Celestino Gorostiza, André Moreau, Seki Sano, Fernando Wagner and Fernando Torre Lapham.

López Tarso's professional stage debut was in 1951 for the play Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin. He would also perform in several William Shakespeare plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. Other productions included: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, Hippolytus by Euripides, La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, The Miser by Molière, El villano en su rincón by Lope de Vega, The Mayor of Zalamea by Calderón de la Barca, Exit the king by Eugène Ionesco, and "Equus" by Peter Shaffer. He also performed works from authors Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Miguel de Cervantes, Guillén de Castro, Hugo Argüelles, Emilio Carballido, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, over a hundred productions throughout his career.

Ignacio López Tarso's theatrical work has been mostly performing in drama, though in the years 2014 and 2015 he starred in a two-person comedy written by Carlos Gorostiza and titled Aeroplanos ("Airplanes"); his performance on stage was presented with Sergio Corona who alternated appearances with Manuel "Loco" Valdés. The play was presented at the Teatro Independencia in Mexico City.

Film López Tarso's film debut was in 1954, when he played a minor character in La desconocida, which was directed by Chano Urueta.

He played the title character Macario, a supernatural drama directed by Roberto Gavaldón set on the Day of the Dead. The film was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. and was the first Mexican film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1961. López Tarso won a Golden Gate Award for Best Actor at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1960, and another for his work in the 1963 film El hombre de papel (released in English as The Paper Man), directed by Ismael Rodríguez.

In 1961, López Tarso starred in Rosa Blanca, directed by Gavaldón. Because the film was censured by political interests of the time, it was not released until 1972. He won the Ariel Award for Best Actor in 1973. Other notable movie performances included: Cri Cri, el grillito cantor (1963), directed by Tito Davison; La vida inútil de Pito Pérez (1969), directed by Gavaldón; The prophet Mimi (1972), directed by José Estrada; Rapiña (1973), directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada; and The bricklayers (1976), directed by Jorge Fons.

Personal life and death López Tarso married Clara Aranda, who predeceased him in 2000. They had three children: Susana, Gabriela and the actor Juan Ignacio Aranda.

On 22 May 2016, Tarso underwent surgery to treat a growing tumor in his large intestine and polyps in his small intestine. Tarso was later placed in intensive care. He died in Mexico City on 11 March 2023, at the age of 98.

Awards and accolades

López Tarso won many Mexican and international awards including the following: Golden Gate Award (San Francisco International Film Festival 1960, United States) Best Actor for Macario. Golden Gate Award (San Francisco International Film Festival 1963, United States) Best Actor for The Paper Man. Ariel Award (Mexican Academy of Film, 1973, Mexico) Best Actor for Rosa Blanca. Association of Latin Entertainment Critics Award (2001, United States). Hispanic Heritage Society Award (2006, United States). Ariel de Oro (Mexican Academy of Film, 2007, Mexico) for his lifetime achievement in the film industry. Shared award with the cinematographer, Rosalío Solano. TVyNovelas Awards (Mexican Award 2011, Mexico) for his lifetime achievement on stage. Shared award with the actress, Silvia Pinal

Premios Ariel

TVyNovelas Awards

Filmography Films Year Title Role Notes 1954 La desconocida Debut film 1955 Chilam Balam 1957 Feliz año, amor mío Manuel 1957 Vainilla, bronce y morir Ricardo Castillo 1958 Ama a tu prójimo Voice only 1959 Nazarín El sacrílego 1959 Sonatas Jefe de guerrilleros 1959 La cucaracha Trinidad 1959 El hambre nuestra de cada día Pablo 1960 Macario Macario Lead role 1960 La estrella vacía Luis Arvide 1960 La sombra del Caudillo General Hilario Jiménez 1961 Ellas también son rebeldes Dr. Gabriel Renteria 1961 Juana Gallo Pioquinto 1961 Los hermanos Del Hierro El pistolero 1961 Y Dios la llamó tierra Efren Domínguez 1961 Rosa Blanca Jacinto Yáñez Lead role 1962 La bandida Anselmo 1963 Corazón de niño 1963 El hombre de papel Adán 1963 Días de otoño Albino 1963 Cri Cri el grillito cantor Francisco Gabilondo Soler "Cri-Cri" 1964 Furia en el Edén 1964 Dionisio Pinzón 1965 Un hombre en la trampa Javier Ortiz 1965 Tarahumara Raúl 1967 Pedro Páramo Fulgor Sedano 1968 Un largo viaje hacia la muerte 1968 Las visitaciones del diablo Félix Estrella 1969 La puerta y la mujer del carnicero Melitón Torres Segment: "La mujer del carnicero" 1969 La trinchera 1970 La vida inútil de Pito Pérez Pito Pérez 1971 La Generala Rosauro Márquez 1972 Cayó de la gloria el diablo Don Emeterio Sánchez 1973 El profeta Mimi Ángel Peñafiel, Mimi 1973 The Divine Caste Don Wilfrido 1974 En busca de un muro José Clemente Orozco 1974 Hernán Cortés Short film 1975 Rapiña 1976 Renuncia por motivos de salud Ingeniero Gustavo Sánchez Camero 1984 Under the Volcano Dr. Vigil

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1957 Noches de angustia Television debut 1961 Cuatro en la trampa 1963–1964 Gran teatro Episodes: "Cyrano De Bergerac" & "Hipolito" 1966 Amor y orgullo 1967 La tormenta Gabriel 1970 La constitución 1971 Rosas para Verónica 1972 El edificio de enfrente 1972 El carruaje Cura 1973 El honorable Señor Valdez Humberto Valdéz Lead role 1978 La trampa Henry Morell 1979 Amor prohibido Arturo Galván 1980 El combate 1981 El periquillo sangriento 1981 El derecho de nacer Don Rafael del Junco 1987 Senda de gloria General Eduardo Álvarez 1990 Ángeles blancos Perfecto 1994 Imperio de cristal Don César Lombardo 1995 Bajo un Mismo Rostro 1997 Esmeralda Melesio 1998 Camila Genaro 1998 Ángela Feliciano Villanueva 2000 La casa en la playa Don Ángel Villarreal Cueto 2001 Atrévete a olvidarme Gonzalo Rivas 2001 Navidad sin fin Rodito 2002–2003 ¡Vivan los niños! Don Ignacio Robles 2003 De pocas, pocas pulgas Don Julián Montes 2005 La esposa virgen Francisco Ortiz 2005 Peregrina Don Baltazar 2007 Amor sin maquillaje 2008 Mañana es para siempre Isaac Newton Barrera 2009 Mar de amor El Mojarras 2011 La Fuerza del Destino Don Severiano 2011 La que no podía amar Fermín Peña 2013 Corazón Indomable Don Ramiro Olivares 2014 La malquerida Juan Carlos Maldonado 2015 Amores con trampa Don Porfirio Carmona 2019 Médicos, línea de vida Héctor

Discography

1964 Corridos De La Revolucion (CBS)

1966 Mas Corridos - Volumen 2 (CBS)

1969 Relatos Y Corridos De La Revolucion Mexicana (CBS)

1972 En Las Trincheras De La Revolucion Con Ignacio López Tarso (CBS)