In Remembrance: Perry Lopez

     Perry Lopez, the character actor who appeared in 1974’s Chinatown as the tough-as-nails police lieutenant Lou Escobar, has passed away on February 14, 2007 in Beverly Hills, CA. He was 78.

     Born July 22, 1931 in New York City, Lopez started his career on the New York stage. His first film role was a small, unbilled role in the 1954 classic The Creature From The Black Lagoon. He soon carved out a career playing Latino characters on both television and in film. He appeared in such films as Mister Roberts (1955), McLintock! (1963), Kelly’s Heroes (1970) and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987). He did manage to play two non-Hsipanic film roles- that of the Persian Prince Ahmud in 1957’s Omar Khayyam and the Cossack Ostap Bulba in 1962’s Taras Bulba.

     In addition to appearing in Chinatown, Lopez returned to the role of Escobar sixteen years later for The Two Jakes, once again reuniting on screen with his Chinatown co-star Jack Nicholson.

     His last film was 1994’s Confession Of A Hitman.