Mexican actor Héctor Bonilla died today at the age of 83 in Mexico City of kidney cancer. A veteran performer of television, theater, and cinema, he acted in over thirty films under the direction of Jorge Fons, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Busi Cortés, and José Buil, and was considered one of Mexico’s best actors.
Born on March 14, 1939 in Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla, Bonilla studied at the National School of Theater of Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). He made his acting debut in the 1962 comedy movie The Young and Beautiful Ones / Jóvenes y bellas by Fernando Cortés. Other film credits during the sixties and early seventies include Patsy, mi amor (1969), The Change / El cambio (1971), Una vez, un hombre… (1971), El monasterio de los buitres (1973), and Yo amo, tu amas, nosotros (1974).
During the seventies, Bonilla worked with director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo in three of his most important films: The Birthday of the Dog / El cumpleaños del perro (1975), Matinée (1977) and Mary My Dearest / María de mi corazón (1979).
In 1989, he produced and starred in Jorge Fons’ landmark film Red Dawn / Rojo amanecer, which became an instant staple of Mexican cinema, as it was the first fiction film to focus on the killing of the students protesting at the Tlatelolco Square, in Mexico City, at the hands of the military, just 10 days before the start of the Olympic Games in October 1968. After an initial attempt by the government to censor the film failed, it received ample visibility and had a successful theatrical release in 1990.
Other film credits include The Legend of the Mask / La leyenda de una máscara (1990), El bulto (1992), Serpientes y escaleras (1992), Ámbar (1994), Crónica de un desayuno (2000), 7:19 (2016). In 2003, he made his directorial debut with the feature film Monica y el profesor, starring his son Sergio Bonilla.
In 2016 he starred as Don Servando in the popular comedy film Un padre no tan padre / The Patriarch, and reprised his character for the sequel Una navidad no tan padre / Grumpy Christmas, which was his last film.
Bonilla received five Ariel Award nominations for Best Actor, winning twice for Meridiano 100 (1976) and Red Dawn (1989), and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Doble indemnización (1995). In 2019, he was recipient of the Golden Ariel, the highest award given to an individual in the Mexican film industry by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
