María Antonieta de las Nieves, the Mexican actress, best known for playing the character La Chilindrina in the Televisa sitcom El Chavo del Ocho, is breaking records.
De las Nieves earned the title of “Longest Professional Actress Playing the Same Child Character” with Guinness World Records. She began portraying the smart albeit mischievous and childlike La Chilindrina in 1970 on the original TV series Chespirito. In 1973, she took the character to the TV series El Chapulín Colorado and El Chavo del Ocho from 1972-1983. She also played the character in another version of Chespirito until 1993.
“I’m proud of this award,” said de las Nieves, who is now 71 years old. “It’s a great recognition that I never thought would be given to me. Those years were wonderful [and] something unique to have traveled the world with this character.”
Although it has been about 15 years since de las Nieves has played La Chilindrina on TV (her last portrayal was in 2006 on an episode of a TV series on Nickelodeon Mexico called Skimo), she has never stopped playing the character while doing in-person tours across Latin America.
“La Chilindrina is a very recognized character in different countries in Latin America and the world,” said Carlos Tapia, a Guinness World Records representative. “Her experience and extensive career are undisputed … for decades. Generation after generation has grown up with and enjoyed her character.”
In 2003, de las Nieves won a legal dispute over late actor Roberto Gómez Bolaños, who portrayed the title character Chespirito on the shows and was granted rights to the La Chilindrina character so that she could play her in public at her leisure.