COLOMBIA
Carlos Sánchez, the actor who portrayed fictional Colombian coffee grower Juan Valdez for nearly 40 years, died on Dec. 29 in Medellin. He was 83.
Sánchez, a native Colombian, was a coffee grower before becoming an actor and painter, according to published reports. He assumed the role of Juan Valdez in 1969 and became an icon for generations of coffee consumers around the world.
He retired from the role in 2006, turning over his trademark mule and wide-brimmed hat to real-life coffee grower Carlos Castaneda.
“I presented the image of the Colombian coffee grower, an honest man, hard-working, traditional,” Mr. Sánchez told The New York Times in 2001. “Juan Valdez would get up early, pick coffee, and what happened in time is the character became mythologized.”Sánchez is survived by his wife and two sons.