Actor Luis Brandoni dies aged 86, nine days after suffering fall

Beloved actor Luis Brandoni, a multi-faceted performer across theatre, film and television, has died at the age of 86. 

His remains will lie in state with honours from midday this Monday at the Buenos Aires City Legislature, with flags at public buildings flown at half-mast for the next two days.

“Luis Brandoni has died. In 'Beto' we are losing the last leading actor of an unforgettable generation, a driving force for national theatre,” his producer and friend Carlos Rottemberg wrote in a tribute on social media. 

Brandoni had suffered a domestic accident causing a brain-bleed and had been hospitalised since April 11.

Until then, he had been starring in the stage production Quién es quién, alongside fellow leading light Soledad Silveyra.

“You are the last of the greats to leave us. Always in our memories. A very sad day for culture,” Silveyra wrote on X.

The Avellaneda-born star performed across a variety of media. On film, he appeared in hits such as La tregua and La Patagonia rebelde (both 1974), Esperando la carroza (1985), Made in Argentina (1987) and La odisea de los giles (2019), the latter alongside popular actor Ricardo Darín. All were box-office successes in a filmography spanning more than 60 feature films.

Brandoni also shone on stage in memorable productions that ran for several seasons, including Conversaciones con mamá (2012) and Parque Lezama (2013-2016). A recent film adaptation of the latter, directed by his friend Juan José Campanella, was his final movie,  released in February.

On television, he starred in numerous successes. One of his most recent roles was in the Argentine miniseries Nada, in which he appeared alongside legendary US actor Robert De Niro. The comedy-drama premiered on Disney+ in 2023. In the series, he played a curmudgeonly Buenos Aires food critic whose life falls apart after his housekeeper dies, while De Niro played his friend.

His acting career was matched by a strong political commitment as a member of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), whose ideals he embraced from a young age.

Brandoni was persecuted during Argentina’s brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship. He was abducted for several hours in July 1976, along with his wife Marta Bianchi, to whom he was married for more than two decades and with whom he had two daughters. 

The couple went into exile in Mexico but returned to Argentina 10 months later.

Brandoni’s political engagement led him to serve as a national deputy for the party for two consecutive terms (1993-2001). He also worked as a cultural adviser to the late former president Raúl Alfonsín (1983–1989).

“I get very worked up about politics,” he said in recent years, when he admitted he no longer wanted to hold elected office.

A fierce former critic of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007–2015), Brandoni was also critical of current President Javier Milei, whom he described as “ignorant” over his criticisms of Alfonsín. 

“He has a personality that unsettles me,” Brandoni said of Milei.

In a statement reacting to the star’s death, the national government described Brandoni as “an undisputed figure on the Argentine cultural scene” and expressed its “deepest sympathy” to the actor’s family.

“Brandoni was much more than an extraordinary actor: he was an emblem of our cultural identity, a performer who knew how to portray the Argentine soul like few others, and a figure whose commitment to his craft made him an example for colleagues, artists and future generations,” said a statement signed by Culture Secretary Leandro Cifelli.

Buenos Aires City Mayor Jorge Macri described Brandoni as “a central figure in Argentine theatre.”

– TIMES/AFP/NA