Legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernández died today at the age of 81 after a five-month hospitalization following an injury as a result of a fall. He was a cultural icon of Mexican ranchera music recording over 50 albums, earning three Grammy, eight Latina Grammys, and selling over 50 million copies worldwide. In addition to his acclaimed music career, Fernández also had a popular and fruitful live on the big screen, having participated in over thirty movies as an actor, becoming a leading actor of popular Mexican cinema.
Fernández made his big screen debut in the 1971 comedy Tacos al carbón by Alejandro Galindo, also starring Adalberto Martínez “Resortes,” Ana Martin, Fernando Soto "Mantequilla", Sergio Ramos "El Comanche," and David Silva. Fernández played the protagonist role of Constancio Rojas Rodríguez, “El Champi,” a poor street taco seller whose luck changes when he wins a new car in a raffle, creating a a chain of taquerías throughout the city.
Based on the success of the movie, Fernández would act in nine other films in only three years including Crónica de un amor (1973), Jalisco nunca pierde (1974), El albañil (1975), and Juan Armenta, el repatriado (1976) working with directors Chano Urueta, René Cardona, and José Estrada, among others.
In 1976, Fernández played the role of Maclovio Arrieta in Alberto Mariscal’s La ley del monte, which became one of his top grossing films. Based on a novel by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, the period piece drama tells the story of Arrieta, a man who returns to the town of his birth after the war and finds that the love of his life is married to another man. La ley del monte soundtrack was also a big hit.
Other popular titles include Dios los cría (1977); Picardía Mexicana (1978), and its sequels Picardía mexicana: número dos ( and Picardía mexicana 3 (1978); El tahúr (1979); El Coyote y la Bronca (1980). In 1978 he signed an exclusivity contract with successful film producer Gregorio Wallerstein and worked with director Rafael Villaseñor Kuri in 19 movies throughout the eighties including Como México no hay dos (1981), Juan Charrasqueado y Gabino Barrera, su verdadera historia (1982), Una pura y dos con sal (1983), El sinvergüenza (1984), El embustero (1985), Sinvergüenza pero honrado (1986), El cuatrero (1989), and Por tu maldito amor (1990).
Fernández’s last movie was the 1991 Mi querido viejo, in which he plays the role of Luis Fuentes, a famous singer who tries to win over his son (played by the star’s own son Alejandro, who years later would also have a popular music career) after a bitter and disputed divorce.
