Xavier López

Birthday: 1935-02-17
Deathday: 2023-03-25
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

Xavier López Rodríguez (17 February, 1935 - 25 March, 2023), better known as Chabelo, was a Mexican-American actor, comedian and television host. He hosted a children's program entitled En familia con Chabelo, which aired for forty-eight years.

He studied medicine, which he practiced for four years in a private sanatorium where he was a partner. At the same time and while still studying, he missed classes in order to make frequent visits to the facilities of the building known as Televicentro, inaugurated in 1952, owned by the alliance of Mexican radio stations, Telesistema Mexicano, which would later become Televisa. There he met the producer, Luis de Llano Palmer, who offered him work as a production assistant, a job he accepted and opted to abandon his career in medicine. At the same place, he also worked as a cameraman and floor manager. This experience was what helped him make the decision to become an actor and later he began to study drama for four years. Later, he would begin to have brief appearances in television broadcasts called teleteatros (of which there is not much information), and in which he would participate as a substitute for actors who were late or absent. He got his nickname after telling a joke about a boy named Chabelo and would embody that boy as a character for most of his acting career.

He participated in 10 television programs, 34 movies and 4 soap operas, in addition to recording several albums as his character "Chabelo". In 2003 he was awarded a Diosa de Plata for his artistic career. In 2005 he received the Legend Award from the MTV Movie Awards Mexico. In 2006 he received the Gaviota International Award for his artistic career.

In June 2010, at the Lunas del Auditorio Awards, he received the special recognition Una Vida en el Escenario (A Life on Stage). During the last broadcast in 2012, he received a tribute for his two thousand three hundred programs of En familia con Chabelo. During that same broadcast, he was awarded two Guinness World Records: the first for the longest career as host of a children's program (forty-four years), and the second for the longest time representing a character, Chabelo (fifty-seven years), "the friend of all children".

On March 25, 2023, Chabelo passed away in Mexico City at the age of 88, due to a septic shock caused by an acute abdominal condition. The following day, his body was cremated and his ashes were given to his family.

Credits

Year Title Character
2019-04-18 The Mongolian Conspiracy El Coronel
2014-03-15 The Crime of Cacaro Gumaro Mecha-Chabelo
2013-11-15 Flying low Bruno Sánchez Félix
2013-11-01 Misión W2M
2012-06-08 Cartas a Elena Don Jacinto
2009-02-27 Amar Benito
2005-04-22 Club eutanasia Mauro
1994-04-29 La Chilindrina en apuros Chabelo
1988-10-27 Mi fantasma y yo
1988-09-08 Dos machos que ladran no muerden
1988-05-14 La tumba de Matías
1986-01-01 Agente 0013: Hermelinda linda II Bebé
1985-07-03 Los pepenadores de aca
1984-01-01 Macho que ladra no muerde
1974-02-14 Chabelo y Pepito detectives Chabelo
1973-08-02 Chabelo and Pepito vs. the Monsters Chabelo
1972-06-22 Pepito y la lámpara maravillosa
1972-02-02 La criada bien criada Little Baby
1971-09-30 Bang bang al hoyo
1969-05-17 El aviso inoportuno
1969-05-14 La princesa hippie
1968-11-07 Autopsy of a Ghost
1966-12-22 Los dos rivales Javier Gobardilla (as Javier López 'Chabelo')
1965-11-25 Los reyes del volante Chabelo
1965-03-25 Escuela para solteras Photographer
1964-12-17 ¡Buenas noches, año nuevo! Bailarín
1962-10-04 El Extra Panchito
1958-10-30 Vuelve Chistelandia
1958-10-28 Nueva Chistelandia
1958-10-26 Chistelandia
1958-04-02 Trip to the Moon Babyface