The Mexican actor is the first actor to graduate from the Inbal Academy of Dramatic Art, who as a student made his debut with the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare.
- The Ministry of Culture and the Inbal join the condolences for the family, with which they will agree to carry out a posthumous tribute to his career
The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal) regret the death this Saturday, March 11, 2023, of the first actor Ignacio López Tarso.
From seminary to theater, film and television, Ignacio López Tarso was a leading actor recognized and admired nationally and internationally, who leaves a fundamental legacy in Mexican cinema.
The federal Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, lamented the death of one of the greatest actors in Mexico. After sending condolences to her children Juan Ignacio, Susana and Gabriela, she acknowledged that Ignacio López Tarso excelled in theater, television and cinema, being Macario the film that consolidated him in the collective memory of Mexico.
For her part, the general director of Inbal, Lucina Jiménez López, recalled the great teacher, leading actor and great creator of national theatre, cinema and television, whom she recognized: “He leaves a great legacy of excellence and commitment for current generations ”.
Likewise, he expressed his solidarity with colleagues, actors and actresses, members of the theater community. We will have to respect the wishes of your family and accompany this transition in a respectful and supportive manner. And he reiterated that “The doors of the Palace of Fine Arts are open today and always for him.”
The Mexican actor is the first actor to graduate from the Inbal Academy of Dramatic Art, who as a student debuted with the play Summer night Dream, the William Shakespeare.
His time in the cinema was impressive, with characters that remain in the collective imagination, as is the case of Macario. He also gave life to Cri Cri The Singing Cricketas well as the paper man; on television she took part in teleseries as path of glory, the ill-loved, among other. She recorded eight albums of verses and runs and also dabbled in dubbing.
On a professional level, his extensive career began in 1951 with the work born yesterdayby Garson Kanin. From then on she participated in innumerable plays, such as the celestine, Don Juan Tenorio y Cyrano de Bergerac.
He obtained prizes and recognitions, both in Mexico and internationally, among others, in 2006 he received the Fine Arts Commemorative Gold Medal awarded to him by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature.
It should be noted that López Tarso participated on several occasions in the reading cycle organized by the Inbal: “I read… therefore I exist”.
On multiple occasions, he mentioned that his passion for acting began at the age of eight, when he saw a theater performance in a tent in the Analco neighborhood, in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The lack of economic resources to continue his studies after high school led him to enter the Minor Seminary of Temascalcingo, State of Mexico. There he began in the theater, in the group that a priest organized to perform performances for the benefit of the seminary and where he began to read the classics: Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca, among others.
In addition, he became the official reader, so he learned to recite poetry with the correct diction and meter.
At the age of 20, he left the seminary due to lack of vocation and did Military Service for a year in different regiments, although they predicted a successful military career for him, he also left it because he did not like it.
After suffering a fall, he was disabled for a year, time that he took advantage of to read and discover the poetry of Xavier Villaurrutia. At the same time, he found out about the start of acting courses at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, where one of the teachers was going to be Villaurrutia.
The poet and playwright recognized the interest of the aspiring actor and accepted him as a listener and soon after joined the group.
It is with the Autonomous Student Theater group, founded by Xavier Rojas, that he participated in open-air performances, in streets, squares, markets, and has contact with the public.
In addition to Xavier Villaurrutia, Roberto Rojas, Xavier Rojas and Salvador Novo, Ignacio Lopez Tarso had as teachers Clementina Otero, Celestino Gorostiza, Andre Moreau, Seki Sano, Fernando Wagner, Fernando Torre Lapham, among others.
Among the plays in which he participated are: Moctezuma IIby Sergio Magaña; Othello, Oedipus Rex, The miser y Tyrant Flags; in 1966 he debuted in the Mexican version of Hello Dolly, next to Silvia Pinal, among other stagings. Some of her performances in movies were in The golden rooster, The useless life of Pito Pérez, The prophet Mimi and masonsin addition to the unforgettable Macario.
The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the Inbal, in agreement with the family of the renowned actor, will define the date of the posthumous tribute, in recognition of his career.
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