Prominent Actor Alexis Díaz de Villegas Passes Away

June 24, 2022

Cuban actor Alexis Díaz de Villegas passed away this Friday at age 56 in Havana.

Alexis, known among other works for his character in the film "Juan de los Muertos", passed away this Friday, June 24 in Havana, as confirmed by the National Council of Performing Arts. The actor had been receiving treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for several years.

The statement, published on social media, does not clarify the causes of death of the 56-year-old artist. However, a post by fellow actor Mario Guerra suggests that Díaz de Villegas had been ill.

"Alexis, I have to tell it. For the amazement. Allow me, please," he wrote. "This morning, around 5:30 a.m., I dreamed about you. You were in your convalescent bed and I arrived. You look at me, smile and speak while moving your arms, as if with theater fever".

In his dream, the late actor was telling him "something" about his new production. "Then I see you standing. Strong and in workout clothes. You greet me with a fist. You say something I couldn't understand. You turn and leave. I woke up agitated and wrote to you on WhatsApp. I think we said goodbye, my talented colleague".

Social media began to fill with messages of condolence. Among them was a post from actor Héctor Medina: "The Majá is gone, the professor, the friend. I will never forget the first time I went to see a theater play in Havana and saw you shine. Nor will I forget the first time I performed at Teatro El Público, when you approached me and said: 'leave the nerves, nobody is going to kill you, enjoy it'. So many beautiful memories come to my head today".

"Alexis Díaz de Villegas or El Majá, as we theater people affectionately called him, always moved forward toward his final destiny. Now that it has arrived, those of us who admired and applauded him feel a profound loss and a pain without cure and without consolation. Only what he gave to the stage with such passion and so well serves us, like a momentary balm", noted Rubén Darío Salazar, founder of Teatro de Las Estaciones.

Díaz de Villegas was born in 1966 in the municipality of Cumanayagua, in the province of Cienfuegos, and became one of the most recognized actors of his generation. He moved audiences on the Island with his participation in the play "La cuarta pared" (1988), by Víctor Varela.

With an extensive career in theater, he will be remembered for works such as "El Alma Buena de Se Chuán", "La señorita Julia", "Stockman: un enemigo del pueblo", and "Vida y muerte de Pier Paolo Pasolini", with Argos Teatro.

With Teatro El Público he performed in "La Gaviota", "La Celestina", "Fedra", "Calígula", "El otro cuarto". In addition to teaching at the Instituto Superior de Arte, Alexis Díaz de Villegas dedicated his recent years to his own company, Impulso Teatro, with which he premiered "Insultos al público", "Balada del pobre B.B" and "La excepción y la regla".

In film, Cuban audiences remember him in films such as "Entre ciclones", "Kangamba", "El cuerno de la abundancia" and "Juan de los Muertos".