Ramón Gómez Valdés de Castillo (September 2, 1923 – August 9, 1988) often credited as Ramón Valdéz, was a Mexican actor. He was born in Mexico City. His nephew is Cristian Castro, Mexican pop singer.
Life and work
When he was two, his family moved to Ciudad Juárez, a northern border town where he and his brothers, Tin-Tan, and El Loco Valdés, polished their acting skills. The three brothers went on to become three of Latin America's most well known comedians.
Valdés participated in more than 50 Mexican films, specializing in
hyperactive underdog characters. He is most remembered, however, for
playing Don Ramón in the hit television show El Chavo del Ocho. Show creator and main star Chespirito was a fan of Valdés, and he thought Valdés would make a perfect fit to play Don Ramón, who had a daughter (Chilindrina, played by María Antonieta de las Nieves), a person who had romantic interest in him (Doña Clotilde, played by Angelines Fernández) and a neighbor who slapped him across the face on every show (Doña Florinda, played by Florinda Meza). The Chavo character played by Gómez would sometimes call Valdés' character "Ron Damón",
transposing the initial letter of both words, as some children would
do; as a result, Valdés' character was known by both monikers.
Valdés also appeared on Chespirito's other hit show, El Chapulín Colorado, usually as Chapulín's antagonist, the famous Tripaseca. In some episodes he played Super Sam, an English-speaking, money-armed superhero mocking both Uncle Sam
and the relatively wealthy economical situation of Americans when
compared to the average Latin American and also a critic of the American
colonialism.
Both El Chavo and El Chapulín became major international hits across Latin America, Spain, the United States and other non-Spanish speaking countries, giving their entire cast international fame. Ramón Valdés was no exception, he would be identified as Don Ramón (or as "Ron Damón") at many different countries he visited.
In Brazil,
where the beloved character/actor (as the show itself) is culted by the
80's generation as a vintage masterpiece, he was known as Seu Madruga instead, following the Portuguese dubbing for El Chavo del Ocho, which, in that country, is called simply "Chaves".
In 1979, he quit Chespirito's productions, but he returned to television a few years later, with fellow Chavo del Ocho and Chapulín Colorado cast member Carlos Villagrán in Federrico. Federrico
found little success, however, and Ramón Valdés returned to work with
Chespirito for a brief time in 1981. Valdés and Villagrán were replaced
by Raul "Chato" Padilla, a more experimented actor who played Jaimito The Postman in the remaining Chavo del 8 episodes.
Valdés also owned a circus, participating in circus acts.
Death
On August 9, 1988, Valdés died after a battle with lung cancer at age 64.
