Renée Victor, the voice of no-nonsense Abuelita in ‘Coco,’ dies at 86
Renée Victor, who voiced the no-nonsense, sandal-throwing Abuelita in Disney’s animated hit “Coco” and performed the wisecracking Lupita on Showtime’s “Weeds,” has died. She was 86.
Victor’s demise was confirmed Monday by a consultant, Julie Smith, who stated the actor had lymphoma for a number of years. She died Friday at her residence in Sherman Oaks, California, Smith stated, with household by her aspect.
A submit on the Instagram feed of Pixar, which produced “Coco,” stated: “We’re heartbroken to listen to of the passing of Renée Victor, the voice [of] Abuelita in ‘Coco’ and an unimaginable a part of the Pixar household. We are going to all the time keep in mind you.”
Victor appeared in 22 episodes of “Weeds” as sassy housekeeper Lupita between 2005 and 2012, amongst many different TV credit together with “ER,” “Matlock” and “The Addams Household.” However she was maybe finest recognized for what she known as the chancla-throwing grandmother in “Coco,” the 2017 family-friendly film that explored demise by means of the journey of a younger Mexican boy to the land of the lifeless.
“I play the a part of ‘Abuelita,’ the chancla throwing grandma that preaches ‘No Music!'” she wrote on Instagram, wanting again a number of years in the past. “Get pleasure from ‘Coco’ with your loved ones this Dia de los Muertos and endlessly extra!”
She additionally seemed again at “The Apostle,” the 1997 film that Robert Duvall wrote, directed and starred in. “He took an opportunity on me with this movie,” Victor wrote on Instagram. “That is the place I received my nickname ‘one take Renée,'” she stated, including laughter emojis. “I had a small position however what an awesome one! Can any individual give me an amen?!”
Born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 25, 1938, Victor started her performing profession as a singer and dancer. She moved to Los Angeles within the Nineteen Sixties, based on biography materials offered by her representatives, the place she launched her profession singing with outstanding huge band leaders Xavier Cugat and Pérez Prado. She additionally taught Latin dancing, together with salsa and the tango.
She met her future husband, Ray, throughout that interval, and from 1963 to 1973, they carried out collectively as “Ray & Renée,” a spread present that took them world wide — together with Australia, the place “they loved explicit fame,” the supplies stated.
Within the Nineteen Seventies, Victor hosted the “Pacesetters” public affairs present on KTLA, her representatives stated, and by the ’80s had moved into TV and movie work.
Her movie credit, aside from “The Apostle,” included the 2014 horror movie “Paranormal Exercise 5: The Marked Ones,” “The Physician” with William Damage (1991), and “A Evening in Previous Mexico” (2013), additionally with Duvall. In 2004, she had a recurring position as Florina Lopez on TV’s “ER,” and the next 12 months was forged in “Weeds.” Different collection credit included “Snowpiercer” (2020-2021), “Mayans M.C.” (2022), “Useless to Me” (2020-2022), and Amazon’s “With Love” (2021-2023).
Victor is survived by her daughters, Raquel and Margo Victor, Smith stated.