Chespirito

Roberto Gómez Bolaños
Roberto Gómez Bolaños
	File:Chespirito.jpg
Born	February 21, 1929 (age 95); Mexico City, Mexico
Other names	Chespirito
Alma mater	Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico
Occupation(s)	Film director, actor, screenwriter, comedian, songwriter
Years active	1950–present
Television	El Chavo,; El Chapulín Colorado
Spouse	Florinda Meza (November 19, 2004 - present)
Partner	Florinda Meza (1977-2004)
Website	http://www.chespirito.com

Roberto Gómez Bolaños (born February 21, 1929 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican writer, actor, director, comedian, humorist, songwriter and poet. He is best known by his stage name Chespirito^[1]

Life and work

Before becoming an actor, Gómez was an amateur boxer. He studied Engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico). He wrote a number of plays, and contributed dialogue for scripts of films and television shows in Mexico, as well as some character acting work before he became famous. His stage name of Chespirito was given by a producer during Gómez Bolaños' first years as a writer and was concocted from the diminutive form of the Spanish pronunciation of the name of William Shakespeare or Shakespierito, meaning "Little Shakespeare" or "Little Shakespeare Boy".

Chespirito was discovered as an actor while he was waiting in line to apply for a job as a writer and soon he began writing and starring in his children comedy shows. Bolaños' first show was Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada, Sketch comedy show that premiered in 1968, the show also starred Ramón Valdés, María Antonieta de las Nieves and Rubén Aguirre. Los Supergenios was later renamed Chespirito y la Mesa Cuadrada and later Chespirito; characters like El Chavo, El Chapulín and Dr. Chapatín were introduced in this show (1972, 1970 and 1968; respectively).

His best known roles were in the shows El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado, both series premiered in 1973 and were based in the sketches of same name from Los Supergenios. Produced by mexican TV Network Televisa and being aired all over the world in 124 countries. Other shows produced by and starring him were the short-lived La Chicharra from 1979, and the second version of the Chespirito show from 1980-1995.

In El Chavo, Chespirito played an 8 year old boy who often took refuge inside a wooden rain barrel in a Mexican neighborhood, and in El Chapulín Colorado he played a good-hearted superhero who always got involved in funny situations. The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has declared that he created the Bumblebee Man character after watching El Chapulín Colorado in a motel on the U.S.-Mexico border.

These two shows have turned in a cultural icon all over Latin America and United States and also have been aired in more than one hundred countries. He also starred in such Mexican movies as El Chanfle and El Chanfle 2.

Bolaños is also noted as a musical composer. He started writing music as a hobby, and most of his early musical work was related to his comedy work, particularly featured in occasional Chapulín Colorado or Chavo del Ocho special episodes. Later work includes the theme songs for various Mexican movies and telenovelas such as "Alguna Vez Tendremos Alas" and "La Dueña". A comedy song of Gómez, "Churi Churi Fun Flais", was slightly referenced by Puerto Rican rap duo Calle 13 in a pairing with fellow rapper Voltio, on their song "Chulin Culin Chunfly" (which used the made-up word "Culin", a reference to the female derriere, in substitution of the second "Churi").

He is also the creator of the theater comedy "Once y Doce" ("Eleven and Twelve"), which is still played occasionally and it came to be the most successful theater comedy in Mexican history.

Actor

Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada (1968-1973), renamed Chespirito y la Mesa Cuadrada in 1970, and simply Chespirito in 1971.
El Ciudadano Gómez (1968-1969; 1973; 1994-1995), parody of the Citzen Kane.
Dr. Chapatín (1968-1979; 1980-1995), one of the presenters of Los Supergenios, also starred in sketches in the show, also appeared in the El Chapulín Colorado half-hour show of 1973-1979. He represents an old doctor that constantly has fights and confussions due to his old age and hitting the people with a paper bag whose contains are never revelead.
Chespirito (character) (1968-1975; 1980-1986; 1991-1992; 1994-1995), occasionally starred sketches of the Los Supergenios as a "character".
El Chapulín Colorado (1970-1973; 1973-1979), second most successful character of Bolaños; become a weekly half-hour show in 1973. An ingenous but brave superhero that always tries to help the people in problems.
Los Chifladitos (1970-1972; 1980-1995), starred alongside Rubén Aguirre, one of the main sketches of the Los Supergenios until Aguirre left the show. Chespirito did Chaparron Bonaparte and Aguirre, Lucas Tañeda, as a pair of demented characters that ran in several confussions by the use of puns and the unexpected convulsions of Chaparron called "Chiripiorcas".
Los Caquitos (1970-1975; 1980-1995), become the third most successful creation of Bolaños, sketches were created until 1975. Originally the pair was Chespirito as Chompiras and Ramon Valdez as Peterete, in the sketch for 80s Chespirito program, Edgar Vivar took the place of Peterete as El Botija, and Florinda Meza as La Chimoltrufia, Botija´s wife.
Los Chiripiojos (1972), little is known about this character since its sketches are lost.
El Chavo del Ocho (1972-1973; 1973-1980; 1980-1992), created as immediate sucessor of Los Chifladitos; become a weekly half-hour show in 1973. Is about a poor kid that lives in a small neighborhood with other families that shares comic situations.
La Chicharra (1979-1982), half-hour show, that substituted El Chapulín Colorado in 1979.
Don Calavera (1994-1995), last character created by Chespirito, appears only in the 1980-1995 version of the Chespirito show.

Films

Writer

Composer

Recent years

On November 19, 2004, he married actress Florinda Meza, who starred as Doña Florinda in El Chavo. After show production was stopped both for El Chavo and El Chapulín, both toured Mexico and the rest of Latin America and the United States with different plays, sometimes playing the characters that made them famous.

On November 26, 2003, Chespirito and Florinda Meza received the keys to the city of Cicero, Illinois.

Roberto Gómez Bolaños and Edgar Vivar once received an award from a Laurel and Hardy fan club for performing the funniest impersonation of Laurel and Hardy in Latin America. This impersonation was made during an episode of El Chapulín Colorado.

While some South American presidents gave him honors, the PRI-ruled Mexican government (1929–2000) ignored him completely.

During the 2000 and the 2006 Presidential electoral campaigns in Mexico he openly supported the PAN (Partido Acción Nacional, National Action Party) in a TV commercial urging people to vote for this party just like him.

In 2006, he started a campaign against the legalization of abortion in Mexico City. He also wrote the books El Diario de El Chavo del Ocho ("Diary From the Kid from Number 8"), ...Y También Poemas ("...And Poems Too") and Sin Querer Queriendo: Memorias ("Accidentally on purpose: memoirs").

In 2008, he went to Peru to present him as Chespirito in the auditorium of the Colegio San Agustín of Lima.

In 2009 he was also honaged by the Colombian TV channel RCN in which he received the keys of the municipality of Soacha, more than 20.000 people attended the homage.

On November 12, 2009, he was admitted to a Mexico City hospital. According to his son, Roberto Gómez Fernandez, Gómez Bolaños had prostate complications, which required a simple surgery to treat.

Two themes from Jean-Jacques Perrey, "The Elephant Never Forgets" and "Baroque Hoedown" were used as the main themes for El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulin Colorado. A 2009 lawsuit by the composers against him and Mexican multimedia conglomerate Televisa was settled in 2010, as a compensation for the network's non-payment of the use of these melodies.

References

^ Mora, Carl J. (1989). Mexican cinema: reflections of a society, 1896-1980. University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780520043046.

External links

Template:Persondata

[1] Mora, Carl J. (1989). Mexican cinema: reflections of a society, 1896-1980. University of California Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780520043046.

[1]