Early life Ripstein's family was of
Polish Jewish origins. Ripstein's father was a timber merchant in
Parral. Members of
Pancho Villa's army were the main customers of his parents' store. Ripstein's mother asked Villa for permission to close the store in order to give birth to Alfredo. Villa stopped by the store a few days later to see the newborn. "So the first man that ever carried my father was
Pancho Villa", Ripstein's son Arturo told
Los Angeles Times reporter Reed Johnson. Ripstein's family moved to Mexico City when he was 5 years old. Ripstein first worked as an
accountant and then was hired by Simon Wishnack's
Filmex company as a production manager and executive producer.
Career Ripstein opened his own company, Alameda Films, in 1948. One of his final feature films was
El Crimen del Padre Amaro in
2002. It was produced with his grandson,
Daniel Birman. He also produced in 2004 BIRTH OF A PASSION, also with his grandson,
Daniel Birman. In 2005 he executive produced THE RED QUEEN: A MAYAN MYSTERY for Discovery Channel Ripstein had collaborated with his son
Arturo on several films, including the
1999 adaptation of
Gabriel García Márquez's novel
No One Writes to the Colonel and
The Beginning and the End, adapted from the novel by Egyptian author
Naguib Mahfouz. He produced more than 120 films.
Death Ripstein died of
respiratory failure at his home in the Polanco district of Mexico City. He was survived by his wife and son, two daughters, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren at the time of his death. ==References==