María Antonieta de las Nieves

María Antonieta de las Nieves
Born	María Antonieta Gómez Rodríguez December 22, 1950 (1950-12-22) (age 60) Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico
Other names	Antonieta de las Nieves
Years active	1957–2011
Website
http://lachilindrina.com/indexch.php

María Antonieta de las Nieves (born December 22, 1950) is a Mexican actress of voice-over, film, and television; best known for her portrayal of "La Chilindrina" in the Televisa sitcom, El Chavo del Ocho (1973–1979). She has reprised her synonymous and diminutive character in film and television for over 20 years, which has caused tension and legal lawsuits between de las Nieves and Chespirito: the character's creator.^[1]

Career

De las Nieves' film debut was at the age of 7 in the film, Pulgarcito (1957), starring Cesáreo Quezadas 'Pulgarcito'. A year later, she was cast as in a minor role in the first Mexican telenovela, Senda prohibida (1958) starring Silvia Derbez.

Voice-over career

Prior to her work with Chespirito, she was a voice-over actress for Televisa. Among the many characters she dubbed for, the most recognizable are "Dorothy Gale" in The Wizard of Oz, "Eddie Munster" in The Munsters, and "Wednesday Addams" and "Pugsley Addams" in The Addams Family.^[2]

"La Chilindrina": El Chavo del Ocho

De las Nieves became famous as La Chilindrina in the Mexican Televisa television show, El Chavo del Ocho. She was also the lead actress on El Chapulín Colorado until 1973, when she left and Florinda Meza took over the role. She was a voice-over actress at Televisa, when Chespirito heard her talk. Thinking her voice was perfect for the Chilindrina character, he offered her a job at his new show, and she accepted. Both El Chavo.. and El Chapulín... became hits across Latin America, in New Zealand and the United States, as well as various other countries where the program was translated into local languages. The casts of Chavo and Chapulín toured extensively whilst the show was on; after cancellation of the show's filming in Mexico, its actors continued travelling, and the show continued to be featured in many Latin American countries (in the United States it is still, as of 2011, shown).

Later work

In 1997, she was cast as the lead in Aqui esta la Chilindrina, in which she lives in a convent with various nuns and orphan girls. It had big success. She played Dulce Amado, an elderly aunt on the Telemundo telenovela Dame Chocolate (2007).

Legal battle

In a rather strange turn, María Antonieta de las Nieves was able to win a legal battle over Chespirito in 2003, one that gives her permission to act as La Chilindrina in public whenever she wants to, and grants her rights over the character she played. Chespirito owns the rights to most of the characters of the shows he created, which caused, among other things, Rubén Aguirre to move to Argentina so he could revive his Professor Jirafales character.

References

1. ^ Biographical Dictionary of Mexican Film Performers "N" and "O", Retrieved January 4, 2011.
2. ^ Doblaje Wiki - María Antonieta de las Nieves - Dubbing, Retrieved January 4, 2011.

External links

• María Antonieta de las Nieves at the Internet Movie Database
• La Chilindrina - Official website
• Maria's bio @ Chespirito.org
• see Maria's work on the shows Chavo del 8 and others by Chespirito
• María Antonieta de las Nieves on Telemundo

Persondata
Name	Nieves, Maria Antonieta
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 22, 1950
Place of birth	Tepic, Nayarit
Date of death
Place of death