Beloved Mexican children’s entertainer Chabelo dead at 88

Mexican children’s entertainer known by his stage name ‘Chabelo’ has passed away today, according to Mexico’s president. President Andrés Manuel López Obrado tweeted his praise for Chabelo’s lifelong work earlier today.

After making the official announcement in a tweet, the president also added that his eldest son “woke up early to see him [on television] more than 40 years ago.”

Chabelo was best known for his work on the Sunday variety show ‘En Familia con Chabelo,’ which ran for 48 years from 1967 to 2015. The show was one of the longest-running children’s shows on television.

“This is a very sad morning, Xavier Lopez Chabelo, father, brother and husband has left us suddenly, cause of abdominal complications. With a broken soul and knowing that many people have loved him for many years and will feel his departure, we ask you to pray for his rest and give us the opportunity to pass in peace the grief that overwhelms the entire family,” Chabelo’s family said in a statement posted on Twitter translated from Spanish.

Chabelo’s lifelong work

Chabelo had been working in children’s television for over sixty years, participating in more than 30 motion pictures and recording more than 30 musical albums for children. The comic typically performed dressed as a child with a child-like raspy squeak, founding a genre that became a staple for decades to come in Mexican television.

Who is Xavier López Rodríguez?

López was a US citizen who was born in Chicago to Mexican parents. He moved to Mexico with his family at a young age and trained as a doctor before finding his calling in Television.

The late TV personality star is survived by his wife Triesta Miranda and their three children, Oscar, Javier, and Juan Gabriel.