Héctor Alterio had to go into exile from Buenos Aires in 1975 due to threats from the far-right paramilitary group Triple A, but he never completely left his native country, which mourned his death from a distance this Saturday. “His legacy in theater, cinema and television leaves a mark of commitment and artistic excellence,” the Argentine Association of Actors said goodbye to him. “One of the great Argentine protagonists of all stages of the last century has died,” recalled entertainment journalist Marcelo Stiletano.
The Argentine actor lived the last five decades of his life in Spain, without giving up the constant crossings of the Atlantic with which he developed an immense cinematographic and theatrical career, which established him as one of the great references of Argentine culture. His leading role in The official historyby Luis Puenzo, earned Argentina the first Oscar for best foreign film in 1986. His name remained forever associated with the Hollywood statuette since he also participated in three other Argentine films finalist for this award: The truce (1974), Camille (1984) and The bride’s son (2001).
Alterio was born in 1929 in Buenos Aires into a family of Italian immigrants. The spark of his vocation ignited very early, in primary school, and although in his youth he had several careers with the theater, he definitely decided to play in the effervescent sixties. At that time, he participated in the Nuevo Teatro company, one of the great innovative movements on the Argentine scene. From this time also dates the social and political commitment which defined him until his last days.
Before The truce had already made a name for himself on the big screen with his performances in The skin of love, Quebracho and especially with Rebel Patagonia. The feature film in which Héctor Olivera recounted the massive workers’ strike of 1920-2021 and the shootings that followed had already caught the attention of Triple A. But it was the film directed by Sergio Renán that split Alterio’s life in two.
The Argentine actor went to Spain with the rest of the cast to present it The truce at the San Sebastián Film Festival, when his wife, Tita Bacaicoa, told him of the first threat. The second came to him through the hotel concierge. Without understanding the reasons, he decides to stay in Spain and settle there with his wife and two children, Ernesto and Malena, who are still babies. It took years to discover that the threats were motivated by the portrait of a dysfunctional family that the film exposed, the first Argentine to aspire to an Oscar.
Alterio returned to Argentina to work with great Argentine directors, such as Marcelo Piñeyro, who directed him in ashes of paradise, wild horses And Burnt money. Her euphoric cry facing the sea in Wild Horses – “The whore worth living for” – remained forever etched in the emotional memory of Argentines. We also remember his appearances in the films of Juan José Campanella, with whom he filmed The bride’s son and the series water winds.
Alterio transformed his grief from initial forced exile and subsequent nostalgia into artistic material. Already 90 years old, he returns to the scene in Buenos Aires with My Buenos Airesan intimate work in which he explored personal and collective memories through texts by Homero Manzi, Enrique Cadícamo, Eladia Blázquez, Cátulo Castillo, Horacio Ferrer and León Felipe.
In this very personal show, the Buenos Aires of his childhood and youth appears like a lost paradise that he evokes with melancholy and humor. His unique way of inhabiting the stage earned him numerous applause at the time and, today, sincere farewells.
About The Author
