One of the stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema who died at the height of his success was José Alfredo Jiménez, who endured a painful ordeal filled with hemorrhaging before finally finding eternal rest.
José Alfredo Jiménez was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver because, from a young age, he spent every night drinking and, occasionally, using alcohol as inspiration for his songs.
Although some friends of the King of Ranchera Music denied that he consumed as much alcohol as was said, others, such as Chavela Vargas and Lucha Villa, recalled accompanying him on the endless nights when Jiménez sought refuge in nightclubs to drink.
It was in the late 1960s that José Alfredo was informed that he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, an illness that by then was already taking its toll with frequent fainting spells.
According to his son, José Alfredo Jr., his father had managed his illness for several years before his health completely declined and it became commonplace to see him hospitalized. It was in February 1973, shortly after his birthday, that the singer of “La Enormous Distance” went to the Clínica Londres, located in the south of Mexico City, for tests, as he said he felt unwell.
During his first few days at the hospital, he was admitted only for observation, but his health steadily worsened, so the doctors decided to keep him in room 113, hoping he would recover.
José Alfredo Jr. recalled in an interview with “Una Historia Que Debe Contase” (A Story That Must Be Told) that the hospital room became almost a second home for the singer and his children, as from then on they could only see the composer in his hospital bed.
On the occasions when he was allowed to leave the hospital, Jiménez would faint; Once it happened at the movies and another time at his wife Alicia Juárez’s house. These fainting spells led to his hospitalization. During his final days, El Rey could no longer move from his bed, which made it very difficult for him to escape the pain that enveloped him almost constantly. According to José Alfredo Jr., his father suffered greatly in the last weeks of his life, as nothing could alleviate the torment of cirrhosis.
