Kepa Amuchampii, born on December 9, 1941 in Bogotá, Colombia, is a Colombian actor, director and librettist with an outstanding trajectory in theater, cinema and television. Son of Basque immigrants, he initiated architecture studies at the University of Los Andes, but his passion for performance led him to join the University Theater group, which he eventually assumed his direction.
Such a performance creditor a scholarship from the France Embassy to train at the International Du Théâtre University in Paris, to which its passage through the Royal Shakespeare Company in London was added.
Now you can follow us in Facebook and in our WhatsApp Channel.
At the end of the 1960s, Kepa returned to Colombia and founded the La Mama Theater in Bogotá, along with prominent artists such as Consuelo Luzardo and Germán Moure, serving as a platform for actors and actresses who took their first steps.
After spending the 70s dedicated to the theater, Kepa tried luck on Colombian television with The Devil’s hoof (1983), and since then his appearances were increasing with presences in The sins of Inés de Hinojosa, Garzas at dawn, The chosen one, until its consecration role in I am Betty, the ugly.
In the soap opera of Fernando Gaitán, Kepa played Roberto Mendozathe father of Armando Mendoza and founder of Ecomoda.
His presence on Colombian television continued with papers in The Pola (2010), The selection (2014), María Magdalena (2018) y The chosen granddaughter (2021-2022). Similarly, he found papers in the cinema, being the most prominent the one he made in The forgetfulness we will beplaying the archbishop.
In addition to his acting work, Amuchampi has played roles as director, producer and librettist in various film and television productions, including Garzas at dawn (1989), The prosecutor (1999), Poor Pablo (2000) and served as a producer in The Trojan Lady (2008).
In recognition of his contribution to Colombian cinema, he received the Victor Nieto award for a lifetime at the India Catalina Awards in 2021, awarded by the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias (FICCI).
-
This week, Bogotano announced his retirement from acting, due to health problems that has been dragging for a long time.
Through his Instagram account and after several months of inactivity (which led him to place in the description “four months of absence are too much absence. I am claimed”), Kepa revealed that he had been dealing with a bladder cancer diagnosed in 2024which apparently advanced despite medical efforts. For that reason I was not making daily publications as usual.
“I had been bleeding through the urine since some time ago, when a nephrologist called me, the kidney manager, to put an appointment. He told me that analyzing the exams of mine that appeared on my EPS page, Sanitas had discovered that I only had a kidney running and that something was wrong with my bladder. It was indispensable that he introduced me in the emergency department of the Colombia Clinic, ”he said.
After performing to the medical center at dawn, He was confirmed that he had bladder cancer, which is why he underwent surgery on December 28. Although the tumor was removed, then it was discovered that this was evil and had invaded a bladder wall, so it underwent a nephrostomy, which consists of introducing a catheter into the kidney to evacuate the urine to a bag.
Amuchastegui also reported that his three treatment options were radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy, but because of his delicate situation after the two previous interventions he chose to rule out these options, leaning for an immunotherapy with which he would try to awaken his immunological system to be the one that is responsible for fighting the tumor. “Do not cure it, but it stops, at best, its growth and possible metastasis”he explained.
In parallel, Kepa was offered a role in the play The fatherbut he had to reject it. “I thought I preferred to die on a stage, which has been my life, than in any bed (…) But after the two operations I was in a state of total weakness and the recovery has been very slow”He exclaimed by ensuring that he was in a wheelchair.
Despite this, the actor tried to join the project, but after five months of constant transfers helped by his son and daughter -in -law, he gave up participating. Taking all of the above into account, Kepa announced his retirement from acting.
“At this useless point, Tell them that I will not be able to work on what I know how to do, act, direct, write and that, therefore, I will not be able to continue perceiving money. It is for that reason that I go to those who have followed me during all this time and those who goodly want to collaborate with their help, ”he said. At the end of the recording he explained the mechanisms with which his followers could provide support from now on.
