Sergio Calderón, actor known for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘Men in Black,’ dies

Sergio Calderón, the Mexican actor whose decades-long career included dueling with Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in the third “Pirates of the Caribbean” and serving as an extraterrestrial alien‘s disguise — a head on a stick — in “Men in Black,” has died.

Julie Smith, the actor’s representative, confirmed to The Times that Calderón died in a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday morning surrounded by his family after a bout of pneumonia. He was 77.

In a phone interview Thursday afternoon with The Times, Calderón’s daughter Johanna Calderón-Dakin reflected on his life as an actor, husband, father and grandfather.

“You have no idea what a great dad he was,” she said. “He was just someone who gave everything to his kids. He was born to do two things in life. One was be an actor, the other to be a dad.”

The actor’s son, Patrick Calderón, mourned his father in an Instagram post shared Wednesday.

“Fly high my KING, My LIGHT, My Rock, My Best Friend, BEST DAD, BEST GRANDPA, My STRENGTH, MY INSPIRATION.. and MY MENTOR,” he wrote in his caption, translated from Spanish to English. “YOU FORMED ME INTO THE MAN I AM.. YOU ARE AT PEACE and in the best COMPANY.”

Company Town

After 53 years of acting, he still loves being recognized. His most famous role: Alien head on stick

Sergio Calderón’s first role was alongside John Huston in a film shot in Mexico. Booking roles in Hollywood films eventually led him to move to Los Angeles.

May 24, 2023

Born in a tropical village in Mexico on July 21, 1945, Calderón started his performing career at age 10 when he moved to Mexico City. The actor, who began with poetry readings, “stubbornly decided” he wanted to pursue TV and film despite critics telling him he wasn’t handsome enough for screen, he told The Times in May.

Calderón’s first professional acting role was 1970’s “The Bridge in the Jungle,” which starred Hollywood legend John Huston and was filmed in the rain forests of Chiapas, Mexico. Calderón was working as an English teacher at the time, which helped him to act in English.

In the ’70s, he also appeared in films “The Heist,” “La India” and “Players.” After receiving his Screen Actors Guild card for his role in the 1979 Hollywood comedy “The In-Laws,” Calderón moved to Los Angeles.

Throughout his career, Calderón has played a variety of characters, including a manager, a truck driver and a police officer. However, in his most memorable role, Calderón is just a head on a stick.

Sergio Calderón started his performing career at age 10 when he moved to Mexico City.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

In 1997’s “Men in Black,” Calderón’s Jose is among a handful of immigrants rounded up by border patrol. It’s immediately clear that something’s up with Jose when he only nods and chuckles in response to Agent K’s (Tommy Lee Jones) questions. Agent K takes a knife to Jose’s outerwear to expose an alien carrying Calderón’s head on a short pole.

A handful of roles later, Calderón found himself in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise as Pirate Lord Eduardo Villanueva in the 2007 follow-up, “At World’s End.” He also voiced the character in the accompanying video game.

“I love to play those types of characters, because people really hate me,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “They tell me in the streets how much they hate me. But to me, that is my success. Because that means I was able to convince people with what I performed.”

Sergio Calderon most recently starred in the TV series “The Resort” and the film “The Seven Faces of Jane.”

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

In addition to his movie roles, Calderón appeared in several TV projects including “The A-Team,” “Have You Seen My Son,” “Better Things” and the Peacock series “The Resort,” in which he portrayed a corrupt police officer. His most recent film credit was “The Seven Faces of Jane.”

“If I can make them cry and I can make them laugh, then maybe I’m a good actor,” he said.

Calderón-Dakin said her father had this “childlike sweetness” about him, despite his tough exterior. He sang Mexican songs to his children, recited poems, made chicken broth for loved ones who were ill and calmed his infant granddaughter by bouncing her on his “big belly.”

“He was just a good man,” she added.

Calderón is survived by his wife, Karen Dakin, children Johanna and Patrick, son-in-law Raaj S. Jadaun and grandchildren Emiliano Calderón Santos, Victoria Calderón Santos and Krishnaavi S. Jadaun.