Enrique Lucero (October 9, 1920 – May 9, 1989) was a Mexican actor who appeared in over 120 film roles.^[1][2] He was nominated for the Ariel Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Canoa: A Shameful Memory (1976).

Biography

Lucero was born in October 1920 in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua.^[3] He made his debut in the 1949 Argentinian film La historia del tango.

He is widely-known for his role as Death in the 1960 Macario,^[2] which was the first Mexican film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film^[4] and is widely regarded by critics and audiences as one of the greatest Mexican films ever made.

He appeared in dozens of both major and minor roles in over 100 films, working with many of the major figures in Mexican cinema, including Cantinflas, Luis Buñuel and René Cardona. He was nominated for the 1976 Ariel Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Fray Enrique Meza Pérez, the lead perpetrator of the San Miguel Canoa Massacre, in Canoa: A Shameful Memory.

Lucero also appeared in American productions, mostly Westerns and action films shot in Mexico, including The Magnificent Seven (1960), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Sidney Poitier's directorial debut Buck and the Preacher (1972), The Long Goodbye (1973), Eagle's Wing (1979), and Under Fire (1983). He was a favorite of director Sam Peckinpah, who cast him in Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). He played Geronimo in the 1979 miniseries Mr. Horn.

Lucero was married to Margarita Escalante Gutiérrez. He died in Mexico City on May 9, 1988, at the age of 68.

Selected filmography