Pedro Armendáriz Bohr (April 6, 1940 – December 26, 2011) was a Mexican actor. The son of actor Pedro Armendáriz, he had an extensive career in both Mexican and American films, appearing in over 200 productions between the 1960s and the 2010s. He was a two-time Ariel Award winner, Best Actor for Mina, Wind of Freedom (1977) and Best Supporting Actor for Herod's Law (1999).
Contents
Early life and education
Armendáriz was born in Mexico City to Mexican-American actor Pedro Armendáriz and actress Carmelita Bohr (known professionally as 'Carmelita Pardo'). He initially had no interest in acting, and studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana. He assisted Pedro Ramírez Vázquez in constructing the National Museum of Anthropology. Unable to find work thereafter, he took up acting at the encouragement of his friend, director Arturo Ripstein.
Career
Armendáriz established himself working with Mexican directors Julián Pastor, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, and Arturo Ripstein. He won two Ariel Awards (out of seven total nominations), Best Actor for Mina, Wind of Freedom (1977) and Best Supporting Actor for Herod's Law (1999).
Thanks to his bilingualism, he appeared in many Hollywood productions like the John Wayne Westerns The Undefeated (1969) and Chisum (1970), The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972), the disaster film Earthquake (1974), and The Dogs of War (1980). He also became a fixture on American television during the 1970s and 1980s.
Armendáriz appeared in the James Bond film, Licence to Kill, as President Hector Lopez. His father had been in the earlier James Bond film From Russia with Love. He also appeared in Old Gringo (1989), Amistad (1997), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Before Night Falls (2000), The Mexican (2001), Original Sin (2001), In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003), The Legend of Zorro (2005), Freelancers (2012), and Casa de mi padre (2012). He worked with director Alex Cox on Walker (1987) and Death and the Compass (1996).
Armendáriz was also active in dubbing, and served as a President of the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas.
Personal life
Armendáriz was married model Lucía Gómez de Parada. The couple divorced in 1980, and Armendáriz re-married to actress Ofelia Medina the following year. They divorced in 1996. Beginning in 1999, Armendáriz was in a long-term relationship with Luz María Jerez. He had four children.
Illness and death
In November 2011, Armendáriz was diagnosed with eye cancer. He died on December 26, 2011, at age 71, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He became the first Mexican actor to be memorialized with the dimming of Broadway's marquee lights that night. His remains were buried at Panteón Jardín in Mexico City, alongside his father.