BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERTO GOMEZ BOLAÑOS by Gabriel Jaime Franco Saldarriaga

BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERTO GOMEZ BOLAÑOS

by

Gabriel Jaime Franco Saldarriaga

  

Roberto Gómez Bolaños is a Mexican writer and actor, known around the world as Chavo del 8 and Chespirito, among others.

He was born in 1929 into a middle-class family in Mexico City.  Son of bilingual secretary Elsa Bolaños Cacho and painter, cartoonist and illustrator Francisco Gómez Linares.  He studied engineering at the National Autonoma University of Mexico, but he has never graduated.

He has been married for almost twenty years with Florinda Mesa who worked with him at the program called Chespirito as Doña Florinda.

He started his career as an advertising creative and a few days later started on radio and television as a writer.  He has been involved in Mexican television for over forty years, and generations of children all over the Spanish-speaking world have grown up watching his programs.

His professional name Chespirito was inspired by William Shakespeare because his stories had something of similar to Shakespeare´s stories. He could write very easy and he had a very fast thinking to write his imaginations.

At the final of the sixties, Chespirito signed a contract with Mexican television.  Among the terms of his contract was a half hour slot on Saturday afternoons where he had completely autonomy of this time.  The first characters in the program were “El Chavo del 8” and “El Chapulin Colorado” and were so successful that the program was extended for an hour with a separating of the characters in half-hour each. These two shows were immensely popular, and during the 1970´s were being transmitted to all of Latin America.

Chespirto had kept the Monday night time slot, and for twenty five years, every Monday night most of Mexico had watched his show.  Although the show ended in the 1990s, it is still shown in all Latin America.

Chespirito has received several awards.  In 2003 he was awarded the keys to the city of Cicero, Illinois.  Mexico has also released a series of postage stamps in his honor and there are many awards in these years of life.

Chespirito will always known as a pioneer of Latin American television and one of the most creative writers at the field.  His legacy continues today.  His movies, plays and books have greatly succeeded, but it is for his work in television Chespirito will be remembered.

The shows continue being aired around the world, with a new generation of young Latin Americans.