Édgar Vivar

Édgar Ángel Vivar Villanueva (born 28 December 1948) is a Mexican actor and comedian. He is best known for his characters of Señor Barriga and his son Ñoño from El Chavo del Ocho, and El Botija from Los Caquitos and Chespirito.

Life and career

The son of engineer Ángel Vivar and Celia Villanueva Falconi, Vivar started his acting career in 1964 as a theater actor. He toured the United States with some of his plays. This gave him vast experience in the acting field. In 1970, Chespirito needed a robust person to play Señor Barriga as well as Ñoño in his upcoming Televisa production of El Chavo del Ocho, and Vivar was hired for the job.

Both shows became major international hits, allowing Vivar to become known beyond Mexico and to tour all over Latin America, Spain and the United States. He also made an attempt at becoming a telenovela actor, participating in his co-star Florinda Meza's production, Alguna vez Tendremos Alas.

His weight caused him serious heart-related issues after the half-hour Chespirito productions were over in 1980 (it is believed that his temporary absence from the show may have related to his weight; and was explained that his character, el Botija, had gone to a weight-loss clinic.) In 1992, he left the hour-long Chespirito program briefly for therapy at a weight-loss clinic. He lost a great amount of weight, which helped save his life. He kept touring the countries where Chespirito shows were kept on television as re-runs after the show was over.