--- name: "Ernesto Gómez Cruz" canonical: "https://film.one/person/ernesto-gomez-cruz" fi1m_id: "ernesto-gomez-cruz" imdb_id: "nm0350884" tmdb_id: 7368 wikidata_id: "Q2176223" roles: ["Actor"] born: "8 November 1933" died: "6 April 2024" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 64 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-26T01:05:11.718457+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ernesto Gómez Cruz ## Identity Ernesto Gómez Cruz - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ernesto-gomez-cruz - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** ernesto-gomez-cruz - **IMDb ID:** nm0350884 - **TMDB ID:** 7368 - **Wikidata ID:** Q2176223 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_G%C3%B3mez_Cruz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2176223, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350884/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7368 Actor. Born 8 November 1933 in Puerto de Veracruz, Mexico. Died 6 April 2024. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 8 November 1933, Puerto de Veracruz, Mexico - **Died:** 6 April 2024 - **Active:** 1983–2001 - **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 72 (1), 2000s 56 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_G%C3%B3mez_Cruz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2176223, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350884/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7368 ## Fi1m on Ernesto Gómez Cruz > A Mexican character actor who spent nearly six decades playing the men who run things: patriarchs, governors, bishops, bosses. In *El Norte* he has a handful of scenes, and Arturo is the only man in them who seems to know what is coming. The soldiers arrive in *El Norte* (1983) and Gregory Nava keeps the violence mostly at the edge of the frame. What he keeps in the middle of it is Ernesto Gómez Cruz. Arturo has only a few scenes, and Gómez Cruz plays him with a tired, level intelligence, a man who has already worked out what speaking up will cost and speaks anyway. We found we were watching his face rather than the door, waiting for it to change, and it never did. The film runs on a long way after he leaves it and is never as sure of itself again. That steadiness was his trade, and he had it from the start. He arrived in *Los Caifanes* (1967) as El Azteca, and the 1970s made him a fixture of the committed and satirical Mexican cinema of the decade, most often remembered for Lucas in Felipe Cazals's *Canoa* (1975). He spoke of the period warmly: "Para mí como actor la década del setenta fue maravillosa. Hice cine de todo tipo: de arte, comercial, melodramas, comedias." Then came Arturo Ripstein, who used him three times, as Cabo Pantoja in the prison drama *Cadena perpetua* (1979) and as Dionisio Pinzón in *El imperio de la fortuna* (1986), and Jorge Fons, who gave him Don Rutilio in *El callejón de los milagros* (1995). The later phase belongs to Luis Estrada, four films, with Damián Alcázar usually somewhere in the frame. Gómez Cruz was the Gobernador in *La ley de Herodes* (1999) and Don José Reyes, a crime boss, in *El infierno* (2010), and between the two he was the bishop in *El crimen del padre Amaro* (2002). Look at that list and the type is plain: the men in charge, and mostly the wrong men. He was cast for authority and for the sense that the authority had gone off, though he could also be, when a film wanted it, a working man, a priest or a fool in a comedy. Mexican critics have never had much bad to say about him, and we cannot find much either. The one thing we would say against a career like this is that it is scattered. A supporting actor is at the mercy of the film around him, and a face that means the state or the church before it has spoken is a face a lazy director can lean on. His own account of the job, that you study what a character is rather than memorise his lines or nothing credible comes out, suggests he knew the risk. He died in April 2024 at ninety, one of the last actors with a foot in the old Mexican cinema. Start with *El Norte*, and notice how much of its best hour rests on a man with a few scenes and a level voice. Then go to Estrada, where the same authority is turned to satire. ## Biography Ernesto Gómez Cruz was a Mexican actor. He played Arturo in the 1983 film *El Norte* and appeared in various roles in the 1988 television series *The Marked Hour*. Born on 8 November 1933 in Puerto de Veracruz, Mexico, he died on 6 April 2024 in Mexico City. He initially worked as a photographer before studying dramatic art at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. His screen debut was in *Los Caifanes* (1967). Gómez Cruz appeared in more than 150 films. Among his credits are *Herod's Law* (1999), *The Crime of Padre Amaro* (2002), *El Infierno* (2010) and *The Perfect Dictatorship* (2014). He received seven Ariel Awards, including the Ariel de Oro for his career in 2014, and also worked in television series such as *Capadocia* (2008). *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, themoviedb.org, proceso.com.mx.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Mexican* (2001), Fi1m 56, as Tropillo — [page](https://film.one/film/the-mexican.md) - *El Norte* (1983), Fi1m 72, as Arturo — [page](https://film.one/film/el-norte.md) ## Complete filmography (174) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Tespis Teporocho* (2025), as Tespis - *Laws of love* (2018), series, as Plutarco - *The Cousin* (2018), as Cacique gordo - *Cómo Filmar Una XXX* (2017), Actor - *Juan Diego: El indio de Guadalupe* (2016), as Juan Bernardino - *Hasta que te conocí* (2016), series, as Juan "Juanito" Contreras - *The Perfect Dictatorship* (2014), as Señor Humilde - *A Shred Of Mist* (2014), as Doctor - *Familia Gang* (2014), Actor - *Las Armas* (2013), as Gobernador Giner - *The Fifth Commandment* (2012), Actor - *Autumn Dreams* (2011), Actor - *Así es la Suerte* (2011), as Esposo de Lidia - *Mudstained Flower* (2011), as Don Trini - *El lado oscuro de la noche* (2011), as Papá Valeria - *Another Mexican* (2010), as Don Leodegario - *The Prodigious Teacher* (2010), Actor - *El Infierno* (2010), as Don José Reyes - *De la infancia* (2010), as Aguacate - *Teo's Journey* (2008), Actor - *Capadocia* (2008), series, as Fernando Mirana - *El guapo* (2007), Actor - *Los amorosos* (2007), Actor - *A Wonderful World* (2006), as Compadre Filemón - *Crazy Carnival* (2006), as El indio - *Bandidas* (2006), as Brujo - *El baile de la iguana* (2005), Actor - *Santos Peregrinos* (2004), as Don Emiliano - *The Crime of Padre Amaro* (2002), as Obispo - *Pachito Rex: I'm Leaving but Not for Good* (2001), as Sobrino - *The Mexican* (2001), as Tropillo — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/the-mexican.md) - *Cháman, viento de muerte* (2000), Actor - *13 Días antes de vivir* (2000), as Fiscal Especial - *Amor de mis amores* (1999), Actor - *Herod's Law* (1999), as Gobernador - *Inauditoo* (1999), Actor - *The Delights of Power* (1999), as Carmelo Barriga - *Para matar al presidente* (1999), Actor - *Fraude en el sexenio* (1998), Actor - *Manos mágicas* (1998), Actor - *Alta Tensión* (1997), Actor - *El sexenio de la muerte* (1997), Actor - *Sweet Release* (1997), as Papá - *The Overturning Of The Heart* (1996), Actor - *Una papa sin catsup* (1995), Actor - *Midaq Alley* (1995), as Don Ru - *The Human Hyena* (1995), Actor - *María José* (1995), series, as Serafín - *Una buena forma de morir* (1994), Actor - *El vuelo del águila* (1994), series, as Benito Juárez - *Ya la hicimos* (1994), Actor - *The Throne of Hell* (1994), as The Wizard - *Vagabunda* (1994), as Don Melitón - *The Stork's Mistake* (1993), as Don Cosme - *La sangre de un valiente* (1993), Actor - *Santo: la leyenda del enmascarado de plata* (1993), as Lucas Pereda López - *La hija del odio* (1993), Actor - *Su herencia era matar* (1993), Actor - *La loteria* (1993), Actor - *Odio, amor y muerte* (1993), Actor - *La casa de los cuchillos* (1992), Actor - *Nocturno a Rosario* (1992), Actor - *Lost Objects* (1992), as Professor Robles - *Perro rabioso III: Tras el rostro* (1992), Actor - *Mister barrio* (1992), Actor - *Rulfo aeternum* (1992), Actor - *Alto poder* (1992), Actor - *Angeles Infernales* (1992), Actor - *Highway Patrolman* (1991), as Comandante Navarro - *Latino Bar* (1991), as Blind musician - *Paty chula* (1991), as Mr. Gutierrez - *El extensionista* (1991), as Nazario - *Invitación a morir* (1991), Actor - *El amarrador* (1991), Actor - *Mafia En Jalisco* (1991), Actor - *Las caguamas ninja* (1991), Actor - *La fuerza del amor* (1990), series, as Don Torino - *Zone of Silence* (1990), Actor - *Sandino* (1990), as Farabundo Martí - *Satanic Sect: Messenger of the Lord* (1990), as Carlitos - *Chacales de la frontera* (1990), Actor - *Baroque* (1989), as El Indiano - *Mi segunda madre* (1989), series, as Nacho - *They Call Me Violence* (1989), as Pecador - *José, hijo del hombre* (1989), Actor - *All Souls' Day* (1988), as Poet - *The Marked Hour* (1988), series, as (Varios) - *Passport to Death* (1988), as Pancho the Peasant - *El rutas* (1988), as El Perro - *Neighborhood Rats* (1988), as Héctor Malagón Ruiz - *La ley del ejecutor* (1988), Actor - *Tal como somos* (1987), series, as Marcelo - *Living Is What Matters* (1987), as Lázaro - *Mariana Mariana* (1987), as Gardener - *Los confines* (1987), as Juvencio Nava - *Zapata en Chinameca* (1987), as Pancracio Rodríguez - *The Realm of Fortune* (1986), as Dionisio Pinzón - *El padre Gallo* (1986), series, as Padre Gallo - *Crónica de familia* (1986), Actor - *Los Abandonados – Die Niemandskinder von Camanducaia* (1986), Actor - *El puente II* (1986), Actor - *Figuras de la pasión* (1985), Actor - *Las Lupitas* (1985), as José, el Carnicero - *Viaje al paraíso* (1985), as Víctor - *Dos pistoleros violentos* (1985), Actor - *Violent Stories* (1985), Actor - *La revancha* (1985), Actor - *Operation Marihuana* (1985), Actor - *Nosotros los pelados* (1984), as Don Seve - *The Evil That Men Do* (1984), as Café Owner - *Arizona* (1984), Actor - *Mundo mágico* (1983), Actor - *Desires* (1983), Actor - *El Norte* (1983), as Arturo — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/el-norte.md) - *Erendira* (1983), as Grocer - *Guerrillero Del Norte* (1983), Actor - *Cosa fácil* (1982), as Gilberto Gómez - *The Eve* (1982), as Manuel Miranda - *Días de Combate* (1982), as Gilberto Gómez Letras - *Tiempo de lobos* (1982), Actor - *In the Land of Light Feet* (1982), as Benito - *La guerra es un buen negocio* (1982), Actor - *Los gemelos alborotados* (1982), Actor - *A Married Woman* (1982), as Guillermo - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Arturo - *La combi asesina* (1982), as Capitan de la Cruz - *Trail of Death* (1981), as Torres - *Everyone's Hell So Feared* (1981), Actor - *Long live Tepito!* (1981), as Chucho / Jesús Ramírez - *Visita al Pasado* (1981), as Benito Juárez - *Pueblo de Boquilla* (1981), Actor - *The Sowing of Others* (1981), Actor - *¿Y si platicamos de agosto?* (1980), Actor - *En la cuerda del hambre* (1979), Actor - *The Widow of Montiel* (1979), as Carmichael - *Life Sentence* (1979), as Corporal Pantoja - *Roots of Blood* (1979), Actor - *La madre* (1979), Actor - *The Recourse to the Method* (1978), Actor - *Pasajeros en Transito* (1978), as Jobito - *Rattlesnake* (1977), as Chankin - *Caminando pasos... caminando* (1977), Actor - *The Mongol Plot* (1977), as Licenciado - *Maten al León* (1977), as Salvador Pereira - *Mexico, Mexico, ra, ra, ra!* (1976), Actor - *Letters from Marusia* (1975), as Crisculo - *Canoa: A Shameful Memory* (1975), as Lucas - *The Coming of the King Olmos* (1975), as Barber - *La derrota* (1975), Actor - *Tivoli* (1975), as engineer Reginaldo - *El valle de los miserables* (1975), as Comandante López - *Auandar Anapu* (1975), as Auándar Anapu - *Peregrina* (1974), Actor - *El primer paso... de la mujer* (1974), Actor - *La muerte de Pancho Villa* (1974), Actor - *Those Years* (1974), as Guillermo Prieto - *The Prophet Mimi* (1973), as Hermano Mackenzie - *Uno y medio contra el mundo* (1973), Actor - *Reed: Insurgent Mexico* (1973), as Pablo Seanez - *Los Cacos* (1972), as Arturo - *Los perturbados* (1972), as El Cacomistle (segment "La Obsesión") - *Tú, yo, nosotros* (1972), as Black outlaw - *Tacos al Carbon* (1972), as Uncredited - *Cayó de la gloria el diablo* (1972), as Chester - *El águila descalza* (1971), as Trabajador factoria - *Sin salida* (1971), Actor - *The Gates of Paradise* (1971), Actor - *There's Always a First Time* (1971), as Hilario (segment "Rosa") - *La Generala* (1971), as Cómplice de Feliciano - *El Quelite* (1970), as Gavillero - *Emiliano Zapata* (1970), Actor - *Love Traps* (1969), Actor - *The Surprise* (1969), as Ballesteros - *The Outsiders* (1967), as El Azteca ## Gallery - ![Ernesto Gómez Cruz](https://film.one/media/person/644542/gallery-8a6c849fecd4.jpg) Ernesto Gómez Cruz — EneasMx, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Ernesto_G%C3%B3mez_Cruz.jpg/1280px-Ernesto_G%C3%B3mez_Cruz.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Ernesto Gómez Cruz](https://film.one/media/person/644542/gallery-f3a0dc217c9e.jpg) Ernesto Gómez Cruz — Image via TMDB - ![Ernesto Gómez Cruz](https://film.one/media/person/644542/gallery-8879dfcc3935.jpg) Ernesto Gómez Cruz — Image via TMDB - ![Ernesto Gómez Cruz](https://film.one/media/person/644542/gallery-7d50a6e69d0e.jpg) Ernesto Gómez Cruz — Image via TMDB - ![Ernesto Gómez Cruz](https://film.one/media/person/644542/gallery-b3b3cbc875ed.jpg) Ernesto Gómez Cruz — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ernesto-gomez-cruz