Chabelo

Chabelo
Born	Xavier López Rodríguez February 17, 1935 Chicago, Illinois, United States[1]
Nationality	Mexican
Occupation	Actor, TV host
Years active	1952—present

Xavier López Rodríguez (born February 17, 1935), better known as "Chabelo", is a Mexican actor and a TV host who has been working on television for over sixty years. "Chabelo" has participated in more than thirty motion pictures and recorded more than thirty musical albums. He also has produced many shows like La Cuchufleta and La Güereja Quiere Más.^[2] However, his most famous TV show was En Familia con Chabelo, which was broadcast every Sunday morning on Televisa's Canal de las Estrellas. This show consisted of contests with people from the audience, gifts and games and was mainly for children.^[3] The program ended on Sunday, December 20, 2015 after 47 years.

Artistic career

Xavier López's career really began when he met a famous couple of actors, whose names were "Panseco y Gamboa". Panseco worked on radio, and Gamboa (Ramiro), worked on TV. This pair was already known in Mexico and they taught Chabelo the basics of the TV business.

Xavier López was hired as his “Chabelo” character to be the spokesman of Pepsi Cola, for which he traveled all over North and South America. After the contract, he found himself unemployable due to his strong association with the Pepsi brand. He was hired for a show in New York for a fraction of what he was used to charging, and ended up touring the US for six months with Tongolele. After the tour, he negotiated a return to TV for a half hour daily show.^[4]

En Familia con Chabelo

Statue created in honor of Xavier Lopez, better known as Chabelo, on permanent display at the Jardin de los Grandes Valores (Garden of Great Values) in Mexico City.

López had the idea of doing a show where parents and children could participate and enjoy these mornings together. En Familia con Chabelo (In Family with Chabelo) is well known in Latin America, it is a show with games, contests and gifts where Lopez plays the role of TV host, and presents himself as a child named Chabelo.^[5] On December 30, 2012, the show was awarded a Guinness Record for its 44 years of uninterrupted broadcast. Xavier López was awarded another Guinness Record for portraying the Chabelo character for over 57 years.<ref name="Chabelo y "En Familia" reciben doble Record Guiness">"Chabelo y "En Familia" reciben doble Record Guiness". Retrieved 2010-10-09.</ref> On November 27, 2015, "Chabelo" announced via YouTube, the Long-running Mexican TV show "En Familia con Chabelo" would air it's final show on December 20, 2015.

People involved in this program are children and their parents, with whom Chabelo interacts and gets them to participate in many contests. At the end of the show there is a famous contest called the Catafixia.^[6] This contest allows players exchange their gifts for another which are transmuted by Chabelo himself. This gift could be better than the one they previously had (living rooms, video games, TVs, DVDs, home theaters, microwave ovens) or it could be worse (jokes, candies).

Other shows

Chabelo has been featured in more than thirty films and recorded more than thirty albums. He also has produced many programs like La Escuelita VIP, and Los Simuladores.^[7]

References

1. ‘Chabelo’ festeja tres cuartos de siglo. Vanguardia (2010-12-19). Retrieved on 2012-12-30.
2. El Sol. "Cumple Chabelo 77 años". Retrieved 2007-10-23.
3. Televisa. "Chabelo". Retrieved 2007-10-23.
4. "Durante 47 años Chabelo ha mantenido el mismo espíritu: vivir intensamente". Canal 100. 2001-12-01. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
5. "El niño mas viejo de Mexico". Retrieved 2010-10-09.
6. "La catafixia". Retrieved 2010-05-01.
7. "Chabelo productions". Retrieved 2009-11-11.