Esteemed actor Alfonso Iturralde, remembered for his villainous roles in Marimar and El Abuelo y yo, has died at the age of 73. The tragic news was confirmed by the National Actors Association via a brief announcement on their social media channels.
Iturralde’s remarkable career spanned over 20 Mexican melodramas, including notable productions like Preciosa and Rebelde. His journey into acting began in the 1970s with the film Carita de Primavera (1977), but he only starred in a handful of movies.
His breakthrough came in 1981 when he joined the cast of El hogar que yo robé, playing the roles of Lisandro and Rodrigo Montemayor. This marked the beginning of his illustrious career on the small screen.
Here are some of his most iconic telenovelas:
- La fiera (1982) / Lupito
- La pasión de Isabela (1984) / Sebastián Landeros
- Tiempo de amar (1987)
- El abuelo y yo (1992) / René Pérez-Villegas
- Marimar (1994) / Renato Santibáñez
- My dear Isabel (1996-1997) / Ernesto
- Preciosa (1998) / Roberto San Román
- I will always love you (2000) / Father Pablo
- Carita de ángel (2000-2001) / Doctor Luis Fragoso
- La otra (2002) / Narciso Bravo
- Alegrijes y rebujos (2003-2004) / Santiago Garza
- Rebelde (2005) / Héctor Paz
- Sueños y caramelos (2005) / Gerardo
- La fea más bella (2006-2007) / Jacks Reinard
- Al diablo con los guapos (2007) / Eugenio Senderos
- Las tontas no van al cielo (2008)
- La fuerza del destino (2011) / Silvestre Galván
- Doctors, life line (2020) / Doctor Valero
His final performance was in La desalmada (2021), where he portrayed Alberto Isubaki.
The circumstances surrounding the actor’s death remain undisclosed. However, his first wife, among other close relatives, grieves his loss and has extended their condolences.
Rosalba Brambila Alexander, Iturralde’s former spouse, bid farewell to him on Facebook, sharing some memories about the father of her two daughters. “Hello, good morning, today I want to share with you that last night Alfonso Iturralde passed away.. and I want to thank Our FATHER for his life and for the WONDERFUL DAUGHTERS THAT GOD GAVE ME THROUGH HIM… I PRAY TO THE LORD FOR THE WHOLE ITURRALDE AVILA FAMILY. MAY HE FILL THEM WITH HIS PEACE AND BLESS THEM….. JUST LIKE ALL OF US,” she wrote.
While no immediate information is available about possible illnesses Iturralde may have had, he did reveal to Ventaneando in 2019 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He emphasized, however, that he had successfully battled the disease following treatments and surgery. “I had a treatment, and it didn’t help the treatment. They had to operate on me, remove the prostate, remove cancer, and I am a survivor of this that I can tell,” he declared during an interview with the program.
Throughout his career, Iturralde worked with several renowned personalities such as Héctor Bonilla and Ana Martín in La pasión de Isabela; Gael García Bernal, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, and Ludwika Paleta in El Abuelo y yo; and Thalía, Chantal Andere, and Tito Guízar in Marimar.
Thalía, Iturralde’s co-star in Marimar, expressed her sorrow over his passing. “Fly high, our Renato Santibáñez,” the singer penned in a story accompanied by a photo of them in character. Iturralde’s character, Renato Santibáñez, was the proprietor of the hacienda where Marimar, played by Thalía, is caught stealing groceries. Throughout the storyline, Renato goes to great lengths to prevent his son Sergio (Eduardo Capetillo) from continuing his romantic relationship with Marimar, citing their societal and class differences.