Carlos Sanchez, who for decades played the character Juan Valdez in a series of legendary Colombian coffee TV commercials, has died, according to reports Thursday.
Sanchez passed away at age 83 in late December of undisclosed causes in the city of Medellin, Colombia, the New York Times said.
He made the humble coffee farmer character Juan Valdez into one of the most successful fictional characters in advertising history since he started playing him in 1969.
The character was created by a New York advertising exec and helped soften the image of Colombia — which dealt with a decades-long military insurgency and brutal drug cartels — to an American audience.
In his commercials, Sanchez wore a wide-brimmed hat as he harvested coffee beans in the plantations of Colombia.
The advertisements helped create a $1.6 billion premium for coffee growers in the 1990s, according to the Times report.
Sanchez was born in 1935 and attended the University of Antioquia. He worked as a painter before taking on the Juan Valdez role.
Sanchez is survived by his wife and two sons.