TIJUANA Leading Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz Jr., died Monday morning of cancer in New York just a week after he announced that he was fighting for his life.
National Televisa journalist Joaquín López Dóriga was the first to announce the death via his Twitter account, at 12:15 p.m. local time.
The 71-year-old actor died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he was being treated for eye cancer.
He was the son of legendary actor Pedro Armendáriz, of Mexico's golden age of cinema. His son starred in soap operas and in more than 100 films, one of them broadcast Christmas Day, "Navidad SOS," in which he played Santa Claus.
Some of his English-language movie roles included "The Magnificent Seven Ride," "The Mask of Zorro," "The Legend of Zorro," and "Tombstone." His newer films in Spanish include "El crímen del Padre Amaro," "Matando Cabos," and "La ley de Herodes."
It was during the making of the 2011 soap opera "La Fuerza del Destino," when he suffered severe pain in one eye, the first symptom of the disease that would claim his life.
Andrea.garcia@sandiegored.com
