Rubén Aguirre Fuentes (; 15 June 1934 – 17 June 2016) was a Mexican actor and comedian. He was best known for his character Professor Jirafales in Televisa's 1970s television show El Chavo del Ocho. Aguirre also participated in another well known television show of the era, El Chapulín Colorado, albeit less frequently.

Life and education

Rubén Aguirre was born on 15 June 1934 in the neighborhood of Santa Anita located at Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.

In his book Después de Usted (After You, a common phrase used by his character Professor Jirafales), published in February 2015, he wrote about the difficulty of finding higher education institutions in Mexico during the mid 1950s, since there were very few schools. This is why in his late teenage years, he moved to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to study in one of the most renowned universities of that time, the Escuela Superior de Agricultura Hermanos Escobar (Hermanos Escobar Higher School of Agriculture), where he studied Agricultural Engineering.

Work

When he first began looking for acting work, Ruben was told that at , he was too tall.

Death

Aguirre died on 17 June 2016, from pneumonia complications at his home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, two days after his 82nd birthday.

Filmography

Some of Aguirre's acting roles were in:

  • El Chavo del Ocho (1973–1980, TV Series) as
  • El Chapulín Colorado (1973–1979, TV Series) as Various Characters
  • Santo y Blue Demon contra el Dr. Frankenstein (1974) as Dr. Genaro Molina
  • El Moro de Cumpas (1977) as Señor cura
  • Lo Veo y no lo Creo (1977)
  • Capulina Chisme Caliente (1977)
  • La Hora del Jaguar (1978)
  • El Chanfle (1979) as Sr. Matute
  • Mi Caballo el Cantador (1979) as Padre Aparicio
  • Chespirito (1970–1972; 1980–1995, TV Series) as Lucas Tañeda / Sargento Refugio / Professor Jirafales / Dr. Rafael Contreras
  • Sabor a Sangre (1980) as Sacerdote
  • Aventuras en Marte (1981) as Astronaut
  • El Chanfle 2 (1982) as Sr. Matute
  • Viva el Chubasco (1983)
  • Don Ratón y don Ratero (1983) as Rufino Rufián
  • Charrito (1984) as Director
  • Escuadrón Sida (1987)
  • Este Vampiro es un Tiro (1991)
  • El Chivo (1992) as Padre Correa
  • Fray Valentino II (1994)
  • Las Aventuras de Fray Valentino (1994) as Fray Valentino
  • El Show del Vampiro (2004)

References

  • Biodata (video) , Chespirito.org; accessed 17 June 2016.