<p>The actor was admitted several days ago to La Luz Clinic with breathing trouble.<br /><br />The star of films like "Tapas", "Una Abuelita de antes de la Guerra" (Pre-war Grandma), "Filomena Marturano" and "Zorrita Martinez", Alberto Manuel Rodriguez Gallego Gonzalez de Mendoza, a Buenos Aires native and a pioneer among Argentine actors who made it on the Spanish stage, was born Jan 21, 1923.<br /><br />De Mendoza made his name in the 1970s as one of the outstanding heroes of Spanish movies, with Carmen Sevilla and Sarita Montiel as his leading ladies.<br /><br />On Dec 1 last year in Buenos Aires he made another big hit in his final role as the macho grandpa in "La Mala Verdad" (The Evil Truth), a Miguel Angel Roca film that at the last Malaga Festival in southern Spain won him the prize as Best Ibero-American Actor.<br /><br />In leading roles and as a supporting actor in more than 190 movies, he has been rediscovered by younger generations for his winning performance as the little old grandpa in "Tapas", a role he described as "likeable and short".<br /><br />His children, psychologist Belen and adman Fabian, remembered him Monday morning as "a passionate man, temperamental, in love with his work".<br /><br />Alberto de Mendoza, who shared top billing with Alberto Closas, Jack Palance, Irene Papas and Peter Cushing, was set to make a 13-episode series for Argentine television and in the summer expected to premiere "Las Brujas de Salem" (The Witches of Salem) in Buenos Aires movie theaters.</p>
<p>The actor was admitted several days ago to La Luz Clinic with breathing trouble.<br /><br />The star of films like "Tapas", "Una Abuelita de antes de la Guerra" (Pre-war Grandma), "Filomena Marturano" and "Zorrita Martinez", Alberto Manuel Rodriguez Gallego Gonzalez de Mendoza, a Buenos Aires native and a pioneer among Argentine actors who made it on the Spanish stage, was born Jan 21, 1923.<br /><br />De Mendoza made his name in the 1970s as one of the outstanding heroes of Spanish movies, with Carmen Sevilla and Sarita Montiel as his leading ladies.<br /><br />On Dec 1 last year in Buenos Aires he made another big hit in his final role as the macho grandpa in "La Mala Verdad" (The Evil Truth), a Miguel Angel Roca film that at the last Malaga Festival in southern Spain won him the prize as Best Ibero-American Actor.<br /><br />In leading roles and as a supporting actor in more than 190 movies, he has been rediscovered by younger generations for his winning performance as the little old grandpa in "Tapas", a role he described as "likeable and short".<br /><br />His children, psychologist Belen and adman Fabian, remembered him Monday morning as "a passionate man, temperamental, in love with his work".<br /><br />Alberto de Mendoza, who shared top billing with Alberto Closas, Jack Palance, Irene Papas and Peter Cushing, was set to make a 13-episode series for Argentine television and in the summer expected to premiere "Las Brujas de Salem" (The Witches of Salem) in Buenos Aires movie theaters.</p>