Argentine actor Hugo Arana, who had a successful acting career in cinema, television, and theater, died today in Buenos Aires at age 77 of coronavirus. He participated in over forty feature films, including the 1985 Academy Award winner The Official Story / La historia oficial, and worked with numerous directors including Leonardo Favio, Leopoldo Torres Nilson, Sergio Renán, Luis Puenzo, and Eliseo Subiela.
Born on July 23, 1943 in Juan José Paso, a small town in the province of Buenos Aires, he grew up in Monte Grande. He studied acting with Portuguese-born director Augusto Fernandes and actor Marcello Lavalle. He made his film debut in the 1965 landmark film Chronicle of a Boy Alone / Crónica de un niño solo by actor/singer-turned-director Favio.
Arana’s second film was the 1970 The Knight of the Sword / El santo de la espada directed by the renowned Argentine filmmaker Leopoldo Torre Nilson. In 1972, he became famous for participating in an advertising campaign for a brand of local Argentine wine.
In 1974 he acted in Sergio Renán’s The Truce / La tregua, based on the novel of the same name by Mario Benedetti, which became the first Argentine film to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film. and the second South American nominee, after the Brazilian film Keeper of Promises in 1962. The film, starring Héctor Alterio, tells the story of a man who has to come to terms with his wasted youth, estranged family and grim prospects for the future.
Other films credits include La madre María (1974) by Lucas Demare, Los días que me diste (1975) by Fernando Siro, El soltero (1977) by Carlos Borcosque Jr., The Island / La isla (1979) by Alejandro Doria. In 1985, he acted in the role of Enrique in Puenzo’s The Official Story, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film, becoming the first Latin American film to win the statuette. Set in 1983 during the final stage of the Argentine dictatorship and also starring Norma Aleandro and Alterio, the film follows a high school teacher who sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.
During the eighties, Arana combined his film career with a successful television career participating in series and comedy shows. In 1992 he participated in two key Argentine films: he played the role of Zamora in the acclaimed drama A Place in the World / Un lugar en el mundo by Adolfo Aristarain, and participated in The Dark Side of the Heart / El lado oscuro del corazón by Subiela, also based on the poetry of Benedetti.
In 2003, he starred in the Uruguayan film El viaje hacia el mar / Seawards Journey by Guillermo Casanova, for which he received the Best Actor Award at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival. Set in the late fifties, the film follows three villagers embark on a journey to see the ocean for the first time. Two years later, Arana was nominated for a SIlver Condor Award for Best Actor for his role as Judge Barrenechea in Gaston Biraben’s drama Captive / Cautiva. In 2016, the Argentine Film Critics Association presented him with the Silver Condor Lifetime Achievement Award.
More recent film credits include Natalia Meta’s Death in Buenos Aires / Muerte en Buenos Aires (2014), Marcelo Mangone’s Delicia (2017), Alberto Lecchi’s I Will Wait for You / Te esperaré (2017), and Martino Zaidelis’s comedy Super Crazy / Re loca (2018). His last film was the 2018 thriller Camino sinuoso by Juan Pablo Kolodziej.
