Rubén Aguirre

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Rubén Aguirre (born June 15, 1934) is a Mexican actor who is best remembered for his characterization of Profesor Jirafales, Doña Florinda's love interest, in the Televisa children's television show, El Chavo del Ocho. Aguirre also participated in another well known children's television show of the era, El Chapulín Colorado, albeit less frequently.

[edit] Life and career

Rubén Aguirre was born in Saltillo, Coahuila. He began his acting career in Monterrey, Nuevo León, playing a character named Pipo and becoming popular in Monterrey.

He went on to Mexico City, where he worked on several television scripts with Chespirito, creator and main star of both El Chavo.. and El Chapulín... Chespirito noticed the tall, skinny figure of Aguirre and asked him to play Profesor Jirafales, to which Aguirre agreed. Aguirre was a personal friend of journalist Carlos Villagrán, who later played Kiko in the same show and also acted in El Chapulín... During a party at Aguirre's house, he discovered Villagrán, recommending him for the role of Kiko.

Aguirre gained much fame across Latin America when both El Chavo.. and El Chapulín.. became major international hits. The group of actors that comprised the casts of both shows toured often, and sometimes they would venture out on their own. Aguirre was not the exception, visiting such places as Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Brazil many times.

Chespirito owns the rights to El Chavo del Ocho, El Chapulin Colorado and both shows' character names in Mexico, so after his participation in both shows was over, Aguirre moved to Argentina and opened a circus there. Since Chespirito does not have copyrights in Argentina, Aguirre was able to name his circus El circo del Profesor Jirafales.

Aguirre returned to Mexico in 2003 and started working as an announcer at gameshows. He returned after gaining an unspecified amount of weight, which has led to several media outlets to rumor about his health.