José Marroquín Leal (April 1, 1933 – February 6, 1998) was a Mexican

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, notable for playing a

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

known as ''Pipo''. He hosted a children's

TV show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. He was locally known as "El Rey de los Payasos" (King of the clowns) and hosted the show from 1964 until his death in 1998.

Biography

He was Director of the Drama School of the

Autonomous University of Nuevo León The Autonomous University of Nuevo León () is a public research university with seven campuses across the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León. Founded as University of Nuevo León on 25 September 1933, it is the third largest public university ...

. Through this position, he developed a friendship with TV host Horacio Alvarado Ortiz which later helped him start his career in mass media. In 1961,

XHX-TV XHX-TDT is the television call sign for the TelevisaUnivision television station on virtual channel 2.1 in both Monterrey, Nuevo León and Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The station carries the Las Estrellas network. History The first television ...

bought the licensing rights to make the Mexican version of

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to tel ...

, and José Marroquín was invited to play the role of Bozo. After much deliberation, José Marroquín accepted. The show aired in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on December 18, 1961. During this show, the segment ''Aventuritas'' (little adventures) was started, a segment that would later evolve ''Aventuritas de Pipo''. He continued playing Bozo the Clown until his license expired in 1963. The network decided not renew the license, on

budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...

concerns. At this time, José Marroquín and other executives at the network, decided to create a new character and concept. Creative Artists Francisco Castillo and Carlos Vazquez were supervised by Marroquín to develop this new concept. On January 20, 1964, the show and the clown "Pipo" were born. His costume consisted of orange hair, oversized shoes, and a round, red nose. It was first aired in front of a live audience. It was an instant hit, and it became a tradition for children in

to tune into ''Pipo'' every afternoon. José Marroquín later created other characters for the show, most notably ''Profesor Pilocho'' (played by Carlos Torres), intended to be Pipo's guidance. The ''Aventuritas de Pipo'' segment was also very popular. On every show ''Pipo'' and ''Profesor Pilocho'' would have an adventure somewhere, always stepping against ''Los malitos'' ("the meanies"). The show aired for 34 years on XEFB-TV until February 6, 1998, when Jose Marroquin failed to show up on the set. When associates and friends arrived to Marroquin's home later that day they found he had died in his sleep.

Legacy

His death caused thousands of people in Monterrey to mourn him deeply. His funeral services were broadcast and watched by many. A downtown street in

and a park in

Guadalupe, Nuevo León Guadalupe is a city and surrounding municipality located in the state of Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. It is part of the Greater Monterrey Metropolitan area. The municipality of Guadalupe, which lies adjacent to the east side of Monterrey, al ...

have been renamed in his honor. Recently, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first television broadcasts in Monterrey, an actor was cast to reprise the character, and is playing the role for the new generations.

References

External links

Pipo official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marroquin Leal, Jose 1933 births 1998 deaths People from Allende, Nuevo León Mexican television personalities Academic staff of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León