Renée Victor, actress who expressed Abuelita in “Coco”, died at 86

Renée Victor, better known for having expressed the strict but loving grandmother of the film Pixar “Coco”, died Friday evening at her home in Sherman Oaks, California. She was 86 years old.

The cause was lymphoma, a representative of Ms. Victor, confirmed on Sunday.

Ms. Victor appeared in a certain number of television series throughout her career for several decades, especially as Lupita on the comedy “Weeds”. But his best known role came in 2017 as a grandmother of “coconut”, who follows a 12-year-old boy in Mexico who is transported to the land of the dead.

In a post On social networks, Pixar said it was “the broken heart” about the death of Mrs. Victor. “We will always remember you,” added the company, perhaps referring to the signature song in “Coco”.

Renée Victor was born on July 25, 1938 in San Antonio. She grew up in a traditional Catholic family and went to a school for girls. At the age of 10, Ms. Victor danced in an opera production “Carmen”, according to the IMDB entertainment database.

Ms. Victor’s start of career included a race as a singer and dancer at the Stardust hotel in Las Vegas, according to IMDB. She then did more international work work, especially in Australia, Europe and Latin America.

Ms. Victor later returned to Los Angeles and welcomed the local talk show “Pacesetters”, a public affairs program. She also worked as a translator and performer at the 1984 summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as well as for the BBC.

In 1996, Ms. Victor played in the short film “Libertad”, depicting a matriarch who fought to keep her family fractured together. The following year, she played the Hispanic translator in “The Apostle” by Robert Duvall. She had roles in two other films with Mr. Duvall: “Assassination Tango” and “A Night in Old Mexico”.

Director Frank Aragon said Ms. Victor was skillful to balance humor and drama in a way that “unleashes colorful and original characters who tickle the funny bone”. She also played the grandmother in the 2014 horror film “Paranormal Activity 5: The Marked Ones”. Her character was originally intended to die halfway from the film, according to Mme Victor’s IMDB biography, but studio leaders decided not to fate because “she is too kind and the public will not accept it”.

She also had recurrent roles on the programs “ER”, “Mortel to Me” and “Snowpiercer”.

In an interview In 2017 about her role in “Coco”, Ms. Victor said that the film would bring a broader conscience to Mexican culture to those who “do not know enough” on this subject.

To do voice work, she said: “I love it, because a microphone does not care about what you look like.”

She added: “This is what you project in this microphone that is important.”

She is survived by her two daughters, Raquel and Margo Victor.