Regina Torné, the acclaimed Mexican actress known for her portrayal of Mamá Elena in the 1992 film “Como agua para chocolate”, died on Wednesday aged 82, according to Infobae.
The Asociación Nacional de Actores (ANDA) confirmed her death in Mexico City without stating a cause. Born in 1944 in Villahermosa, Tabasco, as Rosa Virgen del Pilar Martina Incháustegui Anaya, she worked for over five decades. Her parents, Pedro Salvador Incháustegui Rueda and Pilar Anaya, sent her to study in the United States, and she returned to Mexico as an adult.
Torné began her professional life as a jazz singer at age 18, becoming the first Mexican singer to perform in the genre. She later sang the bolero. In 1964, she represented Mexico at a film festival in Acapulco using the name Regina Torné. By 1965, she recorded the album Regina a Lara, a collection of Agustín Lara songs produced by Polydor México.
Torné won an Ariel Award for Best Actress for her role in “Como agua para chocolate”, where she portrayed Mamá Elena, who exerted strict control over her daughters Tita, Rosaura, and Gertrudis. She appeared in many television shows, including Agujetas de color de rosa in 1994 and Retrato de familia in 1995. She also acted in El amor no es como lo pintan in 2000 and Como en el cine in 2001, and she starred in Cielo rojo in 2011 and Siempre tuya Acapulco.
In 2010, she won a Premio Bravo for playing the villain Prudencia Gutiérrez in “La loba”, a role that followed her work in Amor en custodia in 2005. In 1978, she appeared in the comedy series “El Chavo del 8” as Gloria, the aunt of Paty and an interest of the character Don Ramón.
Her filmography started with Despedida de soltera in 1966, the same year she appeared in Sólo de noche vienes and Alias, ´el Rata´. She acted in Adiós, cuñado in 1967, and her later films included Las luchadoras contra el robot asesino and Mujeres de medianoche, both released in 1969. She also joined the Blue Demon saga and Viento Salvaje, and in 2009, she provided a voice for the animated film Nikté.
In 2014, Torné retired from the stage and moved to Puebla to found an academy for the performing arts for children and adolescents. Her daughter Regina del Pilar was sentenced to 35 years in prison in September 2007 for the aggravated homicide of Maribel Monroy Flores. Journalist Ana María Alvarado suggested the actress had not visited the facility in recent years.
In 2021, rumors claimed Regina del Pilar shared a cell with influencer Yoseline Hoffman, known as YosStop; however, prison authorities never confirmed this claim. No public records show a change in the status of Regina del Pilar’s sentence at the time of Torné’s passing, and a petition for early release had reportedly been denied due to outstanding payments for damages.
The Asociación Nacional de Actores issued a statement after her death: “Her talent, interpretive strength, and dedication to the stage made her one of the great figures of her generation”.
