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Pilar Del Rey, the character actress perhaps best remembered for her turn in Giant as the Mexican woman who has a seriously ill newborn who grows up to be the doomed World War II soldier played by Sal Mineo, has died. She was 95.

Del Rey died Sunday in Los Angeles of natural causes, her family announced.

Over four decades, Del Rey appeared in such other films as The Ring (1952), starring Rita Moreno; And Now Miguel (1953), starring Michael Ansara and Pat Cardi; The Siege at Red River (1954), starring Van Johnson and Joanne Dru; and Black Horse Canyon (1954), starring Mari Blanchard and Race Gentry.

In George Stevens’ epic Giant (1956), Del Rey portrays Mrs. Obregón, whose baby, Angel, is cared for thanks to Elizabeth Taylor’s compassionate Leslie Benedict. Leslie’s husband, Bick (Rock Hudson), doesn’t think the family doctor should tend to “those people.” (Mrs. Obregón’s husband, played by Victor Millan,...

Pilar Del Rey, a veteran character actor who appeared with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in Giant and guested on dozens of classic TV series, died February 23 of natural causes in Los Angeles. She was 95. A family spokesperson confirmed the news to Deadline.

In George Stevens’ 1956 epic Giant, Del Rey played the sickly Mrs. Obregon, who is cared for along with her baby by Taylor’s Leslie Benedict as an impatient Jett Rink (Dean) tries to rush her. Leslie’s learning of the local Mexican ranch workers’ living conditions and the racist attitudes toward them is a key early plot point in the film, which drew nine Oscar noms including Best Picture. Stevens won for Best Director.

Born on May 26, 1929, in Fort Worth, Texas, Del Rey made her film debut in the late 1940s. A Spanish-American, she portrayed characters from various ethnic backgrounds with depth and authenticity.

She joined the...

Nope, it’s not on disc but it’s getting written up here because so few people know it and it’s been difficult to see my entire adult life. The fourth Gardner/Levy United Artists horror/sci-fi picture of ’57-’58 is another trip into a jungle’s Heart of Darkness, where awaits a deadly satellite fallen from orbit. Have we missed something Spectacular? Fantastic? Incredible? This seventy minutes of cheap program filler is nobody’s favorite, but CineSavant embraces Sci-Fi orphans of every description. Stars Arthur Franz and Kathleen Crowley can’t have been pleased by the result.

The Flame Barrier

Blu-ray

Savant Revival Screening Review

1958 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 71 min. / Not On Home Video

Starring: Arthur Franz, Kathleen Crowley, Robert Brown, Vincent Padula, Rodd Redwing, Kaz Oran, Pilar Del Rey.

Cinematography: Jack MacKenzie

Film Editor: Jerry Young

Makeup: Dick Smith

Original Music: Gerald Fried

Written by Pat Fielder,...