María Antonieta de las Nieves, better known for the role of La Chilindrina from the iconic El Chavo del 8, has announced her retirement after over fifty years of acting. The actress, who is 74 years old, said she will call it quits on her acting career at the end of her South American tour in a few months.
The Mexican actress’s last performance on the stage will be in Colombia in May, where she will perform the play My Mother’s Eggs.
De las Nieves told the Colombian outlet El Colombiano, “I am 74 years old, how many more years can I be on stage? I don’t want to make people feel sorry for me, so ‘My Mother’s Eggs’ is going to be my last, because even if I would love to continue playing Chilindrina, it’s not going to be with the same enthusiasm and energy for the dances and choreographies.”
The actress, who first played La Chilindrina when she was 21, was enshrined into the Guinness World Record for playing the same character for 48 years in 2021. Back then, when she reminisced about the character, de las Nieves said: “When I put on the dress, the freckles and I put my ponytails, everything transforms by magic.”
She also called La Chilindrina a “magical character,” and added that for her “it was not a challenge to represent the same girl as the years went by because I transform when I put on her clothes.”
Now, however, it is time to let that girl rest. Her fans and the countless people La Chilindrina brought joy to over the years will make sure her memory is kept alive, even if María Antonieta de las Nieves never puts on the freckles and the dress ever again.