The Dirty Dozen star Trini Lopez dead at 83 after battle with COVID-19

POP singer and guitarist Trini Lopez died in Palm Springs, California on Tuesday at the age of 83. The entertainer, who also starred in Robert Aldrich’s war film “The Dirty Dozen,” passed away from COVID-19 complications. Palm Springs Life Magazine first reported his death, noting that a documentary on his life had just finished being […]

POP singer and guitarist Trini Lopez died in Palm Springs, California on Tuesday at the age of 83.

The entertainer, who also starred in Robert Aldrich’s war film “The Dirty Dozen,” passed away from COVID-19 complications.

Getty

Singer and actor Trini Lopez died on Tuesday from coronavirus complications[/caption]

Palm Springs Life Magazine first reported his death, noting that a documentary on his life had just finished being filmed and edited.

Filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes recently completed work on My Name is Lopez, a film all about the longtime Palm Springs resident’s life, including a segement on The Dirty Dozen.

He starred as Pedro Jimenez in the flick, along with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson and more.

Ebersole told the outlet that they dedicated 10 minutes of the documentary to Trini’s work on the 1967 movie because “it was Trini’s moment where he maybe could have become a Hollywood actor.

Getty

He was 83 years old[/caption]

Getty

The filming and editing for a documentary about Trini’s life had just been completed [/caption]

He continued: “And there’s a sort of a thing that happens that removes him from being able to finish the movie.”

Later on, Trini took on a few more acting projects.

He played the title role in Claudio Guzman’s Antonio in 1973 and appeared in two episodes of the cop drama, Adam-12. 

His last onscreen credit came in 1977, when he played the role of Julio Ramirez in an episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries called The Mystery of the Silent Scream

Getty

Trini designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar company in the mid-1960s[/caption]

As a singer and musician, the Texas native started off playing in bands when he was a teenager and got his first hit, a cover of If I Had a Hammer, when he released his debut album, Trini Lopez at PJ’s, in 1963.

Other charted singles included 1965’s Lemon Tree and 1968’s Sally Was a Good Old Girl.

During the mid-1960s, Gibson Guitar asked him to design two guitars for their company, and these limited editions continue to be collector’s items among other musicians.