Carlos Villagrán Biography

Carlos Villagrán (January 12, 1944) actor and comedian. He was born in Colonia Nativitas, Distrito Federal, México. He grew up in an extended family of limited resources made up of four brothers and their parents: Carlos Villagrán and Eva Eslava. His father was dedicated to photography. Carlos could not be educated because he had to help his father in his work.

In his childhood, his dream in life was to be a professional soccer player. In 1967, Carlos obtained his first job, as a photojournalist for the newspaper El Heraldo de México, where he put into practice his photographic knowledge inherited from his father. One of his great tests was the coverage of the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968. He earned the press photographer credential, visited the facilities of Telesistema Mexicano, owners of several Mexican channels.

In these visits, Carlos entered into the television environment and that of acting, which would become his vocation. It was extra in several programs, such as Capulina or Los Polivoces; they gave him work as an extra. Then, he moved to try luck in the Independent Television of Mexico (channel 8); soon its first personage arose: Pirolo, inside a program called the Club of the Millionaires.

He met Rubén Aguirre, an actor, and director from Monterrey, Nuevo León, who directed a popular program called El Club de Shory; in this program, Pirolo played Lola Mento, an old lady with big cheeks.

 

In Chespirito

In 1970, Roberto Gomez Bolaños held a party at his house and invited several people (Rubén Aguirre among them). Rubén, on the other hand, arrived with Villagrán. During a talk, they thought about creating a sketch to entertain the party attendees. The creativity and comedy of Rubén and Carlos was very well received by Roberto. Then, he invited them to be part of their cast, within the Sábados de la Fortuna

program, where El Chavo del 8 was also born. Carlos was the ideal guy to play Quico, who later due to legal problems changed his writing to Kiko.

 

Kiko

He is a boy in a sailor costume of 9 years: spoiled and envious, rude to his friends, but on the necessary occasions, he shows his great sense of help and kindness. His name is Federico, the name of his father who died. So, it was inevitable to see his sadness when his mother (Doña Florinda) referred to him by that name. His father, Don Federico, was a sailor, who died when his ship sank in the high seas. His personality and real interpretation earned him the affection of Mexicans and the world in general.

After his departure from Chavo del 8 in 1978, Villagrán moved to Venezuela where he lived for several years and advanced several comic series such as Kiko Botones, El Niño de Papel and El Circo de Monsieur Cachetón. Then, he returned to Mexico to work at the Tele-Rey company: he started the series ¡Ah Que Kiko!, but it lasted only a short time due to the death of his co-worker, Ramón Valdés.

 

Present

Carlos is the father of six children; Paulo, Sylvia, Samantha, Edson, Gustavo and Vanesa product of two marriages. Then, he met María Rebeca Palacios with whom he shared his life. For the year 2013, he announced that he would end his acting career and start his farewell tour as Kiko. He visited several countries such as Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. In 2017, he participated in the Brazilian film Como se Tornar or Pior Aluno da Escola.