Veteran Colombian actor Kepa Amuchástegui, best known for his roles in iconic telenovelas like "Yo Soy Betty, La Fea" and "La Nieta Elegida," has died following a battle with advanced bladder cancer.
"On May 27 at 11:11 pm, our beloved Kepa Amuchastegui passed away. This beautiful person left us with a slow and serene breath. We will always remember him with much love," his family announced on their Instagram profile .
The actor, who portrayed Don Roberto Mendoza—the father of protagonist Armando Mendoza—in the iconic Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty, La Fea", revealed in April that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Despite undergoing two surgeries, the disease had already spread to his bladder wall and severely impacted his health, causing one of his kidneys to stop functioning.
Following the procedures, Amuchástegui began immunotherapy, which left him deeply fatigued and physically weakened. "I want to tell you that I won't be able to continue working in my profession, and because of that, I won't be able to keep earning a living," he said candidly in a video message.
He even turned down an offer to return to the theater, a space he had long considered his true home. "I thought I'd rather die on stage, which has been my life, than in a bed... but after the two operations, I was left in a state of total weakness, and recovery has been painfully slow," he confessed. Now wheelchair-bound, the veteran performer reached out to his fans for financial support to help cover the cost of his treatment.
Mourning in soap operas
This son of Basque immigrants settled in Colombia was born in Bogotá on December 9, 1941, and fell in love with the performing arts while participating in the university theater group, where he was studying architecture.
After a decade in Europe training as an actor, he returned to his country in 1971, where he specialized in theater. His first television role was in the 1983 production of "The Devil's Hoof."
For more than four decades, she made history in front of and behind the camera. In addition to Betty y La Nieta, she was also part of the cast of "La Ley del Corazón," "Garzón," "La Selección," "La Pola," and more.
He also directed 'The Prosecutor' and 'The House of Two Palms', among other projects.
Among the artists who have mourned his death is Jorge Enrique Abello, who worked with him several times and played his son in 'Yo Soy Betty la Fea'.
"Dear Kepa...goodbye forever. I'll keep everything I learned in my heart," Abello wrote.
For his part, actor and now Colombian congressman Agmeth Escaf remembered him fondly. "He was my director in the first soap opera in which I had a leading role," he wrote on social media, referring to 'The Chosen One'.
"A great human being. A teacher. A lord. A gentleman, like few others... Have a good trip, master," he wrote.
