Thursday, November 18, 2021

Weekend Discussion, 11/18/21: Tribute to Enrique Rocha (1940-2021)


On November 7th we lost a great senior actor who was the king of novela villains.  His distinctive basso profundo voice will echo in our minds for a long time to come after a long career in television and film.  Over thirty telenovelas and a number of films, both theatrical and television grace his resume.  I could not find photos of every one of them, but I hope the following ones are representative:

Proceso de Cristo, 1963
Who would have thought that one of the earliest roles of his was that of Christ?

with Julissa in La Mentira, 1965


 in La Hiena, 1973
According to IMDB, this was the first telenovela to be about premeditated murder.

as Lucifer in Satanico Pandemonium, 1975
This film is described as a nunsploitation film and is probably very characteristic of the 70s.  There are a few clips of it on YouTube, but the complete film is not online. [I just got the blu-ray, but need a Windows 10 unit for the player].

as Eladio Gomez-Luna in the original Pasion y Poder, 1988


as the controlling father of Leticia Calderon in Yo Compro Esa Mujer, 1990

in Dos Mujeres, Un Camino, 1993
I didn't watch this one but he looks like a mafioso here.

in La Antorcha Encendida, 1996


in Mi Pequena Traviesa, 1997


in Pueblo Chico, Infierno Grande, 1997


with Cinthia Klitbo in El Privilegio de Amar, 1998
This series swept the Novela Awards that year, with Sr. Rocha winning for Best Villain.

as Lucio in Serafin, 1999.  
Could anyone else look more devilish?

with Otto Sirgo in Por un Beso, 2000
These two had one of the best fight scenes ever.

with Diana Golden and Daniela Romo in La Vias del Amor, 2002
His mafioso character was not entirely unscrupulous in this story, actually falling in love with a virtuous woman.

in Amor sin Maquillaje, 2007


in Corazon Salvaje, 2009
Since the original story was fused with Yo Compro esa Mujer, he was the same character.  Only here he had twin daughters instead of only one.

in Amores Verdaderos, 2012


in Muchacha Italiana Viene a Casarce, 2014 


in Me Declaro Culpable, 2019

Muchas gracias, Sr Rocha, for all your great performances through the years.  We will miss you greatly.  You have no equal.

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Comments:
I also remembered him in the 2012-13 Telenovela "Amores Verdaderos" portraying Don Anibal Balvanera.


 

Thank you for putting together this list, Urban, and for helping us remember ER through the years with your photos.
What a great career...and what a voice!
 

One of the things that got me during Las Vias del Amor was when he was explaining opera to Daniela Romo's character. It was such a good scene I wondered whether he was an opera fan in real life. Since his voice was such that he would have been portraying villains in opera I realized that novela casting had this in common.

He would have been a great Scarpia.
 

Thank you Urban! I enjoyed reading about Enrique's storied career. Your screen shots were the perfect accompaniment.

His characters could be charming yet deadly. That velvet voice!

I was fortunate to have seen several of his TNs and was impressed by his acting. A true legend.

Diana
 

Thanks, Urban, for taking the time to put this tribute together. Unfortunately, I never saw any of his novelas or was aware of him so I will add another “thanks” for adding to my novela knowledge.
 

Thanks so much, Urban, for creating this fine post about a legend. Interesting how having or lacking facial hair changes a man's appearance so much.

I saw him in my very first novela El Privilegio de Amar. That voice! And even though he usually played a "bad to the bone" character, you couldn't take your eyes off him when he was on screen. That was also the novela where I fell madly in love with Andrés García. Enrique's role in that novela was a bit like playing Iago. He was pretending to be Andrés' friend, while sabotaging him behind his back.

I also sa Las Vias del Amor and, yes, he was mad about Daniela Roma.

Perfect idea to cast him as Scarpia! If he had the singing voice, he'd be the best one ever.
 

Novelera, that's a great point about Iago! Especially because of Nicolas' Karmageddon in that series. One of the best and most creative.

Enrique Rocha owned all his scenes. The first novela I ever saw him in was Yo Compro Esa Mujer. I wish some network would show that one again. I saw it on Galavision in 1996 and the rest of the cast was also brilliant. It made a star of Eduardo Yanez.

We need more novelas de epoca and actors who look at home in them.
 

I also miss those novelas de epoca.

It's quite possible Uni has been showing some good novelas lately, but I have mostly moved to Telemundo. I am also offended by their apparent booting out of some major stars over the last couple of years.

I can't tell if it's me getting a lot older or if the newer actors on Uni are lacking something. Probably a combination of those things. I just haven't noticed the charisma and sex appeal of the newer stars on Uni novelas.

One that's sort of a novela de epoca is running on Telemundo: Malverde: El Santo Patrón. Colunga was supposed to star, but withdrew because of concerns about COVID. Pedro Fernandez just doesn't do it for me, so I stopped watching, focusing on the dubbed Turkish ones on Telemundo.
 

Thanks, Urban. I watched Enrique Rocha in Corazon Salvaje and Amores Verdaderos. Very enjoyable learning about his earlier roles. The photos are sensational.
 

Thanks, Urban. He was compelling on screen.

 

Novelera, I am not a fan of novelas de época but I was so looking forward to “Malverde” because of Colunga . Fernández doesn’t do it for me either.
 

This is a fascinating post. He played as a compelling villain in Rebelde. His character was a controlling father of one the main characters and was running for mayor. It was rare to see him as a hero; he did play as one in Verano del Amor.
 

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