"¿TE ACUERDAS?" SERIES · MEMORY
What happened to La Chilindrina? The girl from El Chavo today
Seven in the evening. The TV on in the living room, an unfinished snack, and the whole family laughing at the same scene as always. La Chilindrina, with her two pigtails, her freckles, and that tooth that never came in, sweet-talking Don Ramón out of scolding her.
If you grew up in a Hispanic home, nobody needs to explain who she is. The question everyone asks is a different one: what happened to her? Is she still alive? What does she do?
Short answer: yes, she's alive. And she's not exactly resting. On September 18, 2026, María Antonieta de las Nieves took the stage in the play La Malinche in Mexico City, sang her song "Peluchín," and the whole theater sang along with her. Nacho Cano handed her an award for her career right there. The girl from El Chavo, in her seventies, is still working.
Before the vecindad, she was the voice of your cartoons
Almost nobody knows this: before she was La Chilindrina, María Antonieta de las Nieves was one of Mexico's most in-demand voice actresses. She started at age 7, and by 10 she was the Spanish voice of Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, Batgirl in Batman, Judy Jetson in The Jetsons, and Tabitha in Bewitched. Years later she voiced Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and, in 2012, Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph.
Chespirito heard her talking and thought that voice was perfect for the little girl he had in mind. That's how the character was born in 1968 on El ciudadano Gómez, and exploded in 1973 with El Chavo del 8. You watched the rest on reruns for thirty years.
The fact you'll bring up at dinner
María Antonieta played La Chilindrina for 48 years and 261 days straight. That earned her a Guinness World Record in 2021: the longest career playing the same character. Think about it. The girl with the pigtails had to bind her chest to keep looking like a child — she said so herself in an interview — and still kept it up for nearly five decades.
The fight with Chespirito
In 1995, María Antonieta registered the La Chilindrina character in her own name. Roberto Gómez Bolaños took it as a betrayal, and they fought hard — in court and in life. She won in 2003 the right to perform as La Chilindrina wherever she wanted.
Before he died in 2014, she tried to reach out to make peace. She was never allowed to. They never spoke again. But the story didn't end in bitterness: in 2025 she worked with Gómez Bolaños's children on the Chespirito biopic series, coached the actress who plays her, and even made a cameo. About Florinda Meza's criticism of that series, her answer was dry: "no comment."
The love of her life
She married announcer and producer Gabriel Fernández on July 9, 1971 — his was the voice introducing El Chavo del 8. The witness at the wedding was Ramón Valdés: Don Ramón in fiction, her screen dad. She was 21, he was 36. They spent 47 years together, until he died in September 2019.
This month, at a Telemundo tribute, she spoke about him through tears: he was "the love of my life." She said she'd like to go to heaven to hold him again, and that it hurts her that he isn't around to see all the tributes she's receiving now.
Her health: what's known, no gossip
She has said herself that she lives with fibromyalgia. In August 2025, during a tour in Peru, she suffered severe dehydration that lowered her sodium levels and was hospitalized. She was discharged, recovered at home — she posted a video of herself drawing, calm — and in January 2026 she said: "doing well, doing very well." In early 2026 she had announced she was retiring from the stage; months later she changed her mind and said she plans to return with a new show. The September appearance at La Malinche looks like the start.
Her age, the eternal mystery
How old is she? Depends on who you ask. Public records and Spanish Wikipedia give December 22, 1946. In her autobiography, she states December 4, 1949. Show-business papers argue between one date and the other. So when you see some outlets say 79 and others 75, now you know why.
If nostalgia got you, make a plan out of it
La Chilindrina taught us that fun doesn't cost a thing: a ball, a courtyard, and the will to laugh was enough. This weekend you can apply the same logic with your family. Check out the guide to free events in LA and Orange County or the one on free museums in Los Angeles: real plans, no spending, so your kids get their own seven-o'clock afternoon in front of something worth watching.
SOURCES REVIEWED SEPTEMBER 29, 2026Biography of María Antonieta de las Nieves (Spanish Wikipedia) →
Her appearance in the play La Malinche, September 2026 (El Autómata) →
Telemundo tribute and memory of her husband (LaBotana) →
Her health after the Peru tour (Azteca Chiapas) →
Plans to return to the stage in 2026 (Agencia México) →
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