One of the biggest stars in Hollywood died on June 3, 2001, in Boston at the age of 86 as a result of respiratory failure.
Anthony Quinn passed away 22 years ago but the mark of this international Mexican is still more present than ever in the cinema, in museums, and among those he inspired with his work.
His death, which occurred on June 3, 2001, in Boston at the age of 86 as a result of respiratory failure, deprived Hollywood of one of his biggest stars and, therefore, his memory lives on.
Whether it is the Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Role for "Brokeback Mountain", the American Jake Gyllenhaal, or the candidate for Best Actor for "The Godfather III", the Cuban Andy García, everyone continues to mention Quinn as one of the greats when that they want to emulate with their work.
"Anthony was a true gift for us and for millions of people," says Hispanic Edward James Olmos in the same vein.
For the Lebanese Keanu Reeves, Quinn was "a magisterial lesson" and for the Spanish Aitana Sánchez Gijon "a piece of humanity, funny and mischievous". They both worked with him on "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995)
For those who were not lucky enough to meet this actor from Chihuahua (Mexico) in person, the son of an Irish-born father and an Aztec mother, Quinn was a universal Mexican who opened the door to the universe for Hollywood.
No nationality could resist him: he was a Bedouin in "Lawrence of Arabia", a globetrotter in "La Strada", an Italian patriarch in "A Walk in the Clouds", a Spanish priest in "Valentina" or an Eskimo in "The Savage Innocents".
There were also Russians, Indians, Asians, and Hispanics in the career of an actor who played more than a hundred roles in six decades of filmography that the British Alfred Molina defines as "the antidote to the stereotype."
But above all, Quinn continues to be remembered for his work as the Mexican Eufemio Zapata, brother of the famous revolutionary in "Viva Zapata!" (1952) and as the eternal Greek optimist in "Zorba, The Greek" (1964).
His interpretation of Zorba was so splendid that, ironically, this great Mexican in size and fame continues to be remembered even in his town with a statue in which he continues to dance Zorba's dance.
And it is that, as he liked to repeat, throughout his career Anthony Quinn felt like Zorba, in love with the passion for life that the character in the work of Nikos Kazantzakis had.
In addition to a long artistic career, Quinn's passion also left behind a long list of children. He was married three times but has 13 recognized children with five different women.
Quinn also left another kind of legacy in the two Oscars he received throughout his career, both for Best Supporting Actor for "Viva Zapata!" and "Lust for Life" (1956) where he played the painter Paul Gaugin.
Awards that he was able to add to his two Oscar nominations for best actor for "Wild is the Wind" (1957) and of course for "Zorba, the Greek."
The other trace of him is a museum thing, which hangs on important walls, such as the house of the current governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the greatest admirers of Quinn's plastic work.
"The biggest investment one can make in art is in Anthony Quinn," advised the movie hero now involved in politics before the artist's death.
A prolific sculptor and painter, as in everything in his life, Quinn expressed his passion for gushes in his paintings and sculptures.
Before his death, actor John Gielgud recalled that "Tony Q." as he called it, he finished some 70 sculptures in the eight months of shooting they spent in Italy with "Lion of the Desert" (1981).
This is just a sample of the energy that this citizen of the world expended during his life, although he lived in Greece, France, Spain, and Iran, became a US citizen but always carried his native Mexico in his heart.
