Édgar Vivar

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vivar and the second or maternal family name is Villanueva.

Édgar Ángel Vivar Villanueva (born 28 December 1947) 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.

Edgar Vivar
Vivar at the ITSEM Mexico City campus in 2014
Born	Édgar Ángel Vivar Villanueva (1947-12-28) 28 December 1947 Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–present

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.

In 2006, Vivar appeared in the film Bandidas as a bank manager. He also co-starred in a telenovela made in Argentina, Amarte Así, that became a major success in South America, Spain, and the US. He had a role in Guillermo del Toro's production of El Orfanato, filmed in Spain and released in October 2007. he would later voice Auguste Gusteau and Dug in the Latin American versions of Disney-Pixar's Ratatouille and Up (2009).

In 2008, Vivar underwent gastric bypass surgery at a clinic in Colombia, and lost approximately 165 pounds. Following his surgery, he has become an advocate for healthy living, particularly for overcoming obesity.

Following his weight loss surgery, Vivar retired all of his Chespirito characters, stating that because of his weight loss, they were no longer appropriate. He would, however, reprise the voices of Señor Barriga and his son Ñoño for an episode of the animated adaptation of El Chavo, the only cast member from the original series to do so.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	El Chanfle	Dr. Nájera
1982	El Chanfle 2
1983	Don Ratón y Don Ratero
	El más valiente del mundo
1984	Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie	Feldwebel Erstarren
1987	Escuadrón sida
1988	Musica de viento
1992	Gordo	Gordo	Short film
2004	El show del vampiro	Vampiro Max	Short film, voice role
2006	Bandidas	Bank manager
2007	El orfanato	Dr. Balabán
2008	All Inclusive	Taxi driver
2011	Juan & La Borrega		Short film
2015	Cementerio General 2	Psychiatric hospital director
2021	The Mighty Victoria	Don Edgar
2023	Soy inocente	Fran
2024	El roomie	Homemade

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970–1990	Chespirito	Sr. Barriga, Noño, El Botija
1973	El Chapulín Colorado
	El Chavo del Ocho
1974	Mundo de juguete
1997	Alguna vez tendremos alas	Sebastián Medina
1998	¿Qué nos pasa?
	Navidad fabuloja	Rey mago
2000	No contaban con mi astucia	Himself	Guest
2002	De pe a pa
2005	Amarte así	Don Pedro
	Aplausos	Himself	Guest
	Chespirito: 35 años en el corazón de México
2010–2011	Para volver a amar	Renato
2012	La familia P. Luche	Doctor	Episode "La enfermedad de Federica"