The Voice of Belle in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Has Died

One of the international voice actresses who brought Disney Princess Belle to life in Beauty and the Beast (1991) has died after a battle with cancer. She was 67.

Paige O’Hara is best known for voicing Belle in the original, English-language version of Beauty and the Beast, alongside Robby Benson as the Beast. However, for the animated musical’s international release, Walt Disney Animation Studios worked with talent from across the globe to bring the Disney Princess film to millions in their native languages.

An animated young woman with brown hair, wearing a blue dress with a white apron, is holding a book in one hand and examining a mechanical contraption in the other. She appears to be in a cozy, cluttered workshop with various tools and objects in the background. — Credit: Disney

Lourdes Ambriz Márquez lent her operatic soprano voice to Walt Disney Animation Studios as Belle in the Latin American Spanish-language version of Beauty and the Beast. Márquez sang for Belle while another actress, Diana Santos, voiced the Disney Princess‘s speaking lines. The actresses starred alongside Arturo Mercado, who voiced the Beast, and Walterio Pesqueira, who sang for the titular character.

Márquez was more than a Disney Princess. The internationally acclaimed opera singer made her professional debut in 1982 as Olympia in “The Tales of Hoffman” at the National Opera Company of the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA).

“From that moment, her crystalline soprano made her one of the most admired figures of the Mexican lyric stage,” said The Latin Times.

Lourdes Ambriz Márquez singing into a microphone. — Credit: Milton Martínez, Mexico City Ministry of Culture

She went on to perform with Mexico’s leading orchestras and abroad with renowned companies like the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Dallas and San Francisco symphonies, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony, and the German Chamber Academy.

Márquez won her first professional award, the National Youth Award, in 1987. She was awarded the Mozart Medal in 2006 and the Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Medal in 2023. In 2024, the Beauty and the Beast star received the Bellas Artes Medal, which The Latin Times called “one of Mexico’s highest artistic honors.”

A young woman in a yellow ball gown stands gracefully on a staircase. She holds the sides of her dress and is descending down the steps. The background features rich blue curtains and wooden railings adorned with intricate patterns. — Credit: Disney

In 2014, the singer gave back to the artistic community as Artistic Deputy Director of the National Opera Company of INBA, where she first performed in 1982. From 2015 to 2017, she served as Artistic Director of the Ópera de Bellas Artes.

After a battle with cancer, Lourdes Ambriz Márquez died on August 28, 2025, at a hospital in Mexico City. She was 67.

Do you have a special memory associated with any of Lourdes Ambriz Márquez’s work? Share it with Inside the Magic in the comments.