Roberto Gómez Bolaños Biography

Fast Facts

• Graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico with a degree in engineering
• Made his screen acting debut in "Two Troublemakers" in 1959
• Was interested in boxing in his youth and made it into a high-profile Mexican boxing tournament as a teenager
• Got his first job at an advertising agency at the age of 22, where he learned how to be a scriptwriter
• Quote: "I always tried to be as concise as possible, so that not only would it reach everyone, but especially the modest people, who needed to be reached more than anyone else․"
• After writing for some of Mexico's biggest shows in the 1960s, like "Comics and Songs" and "Pedro Vargas Studio," he became a regular on the sketch comedy show "The Super Geniuses of the Square Table," where his most famous characters were born
• Best known as an actor, comedian, and screenwriter who was regarded as one of the most important Spanish-language comedians of the 20th century
• His popular characters included El Chavo del Ocho ("The Kid at Number Eight") and El Chapulin Colorado ("The Crimson Cricket"), the latter of which was the inspiration for "The Simpsons" character Bumblebee Man
• Got his nickname Chespirito after a director loved his screenplay so much that he called him "Shakespearito," or "little Shakespeare․"