Angelines Fernández

She is best remembered for playing Doña Clotilde "La Bruja del 71" in the sitcom El Chavo del Ocho. She was an anti-Franco refugee who remained in Mexico (in addition to a brief stint in Cuba) from 1947 until the end of her life.

Angelines Fernández
Fernández, c. 1940s
Born	María de los Ángeles Fernández Abad (1924-07-30)30 July 1924 Madrid, Spain
Died	25 March 1994(1994-03-25) (aged 69) Mexico City, Mexico
Resting place	Mausoleos del Ángel, Mexico City
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1955–1992
Notable work	Doña Clotilde in El Chavo del Ocho
Children	1

María de los Ángeles Fernández Abad also known as María de los Angelines Fernández Abad, was born on 30 July 1924 in Madrid, Spain. She made her acting debut in the musical comedy Carlo Monte en Monte Carlo in Isabela Garcés' theatre company in Madrid. She flew to Mexico in 1947 in fear for her life due to her support for the Spanish Maquis. During the Spanish Civil War, young Fernández was supportive of the Republican faction. She would remain in Mexico for the rest of her life, except for international tours and a short stint in Cuba during the late 1940s. In 1950, she returned to Mexico permanently.

Angelines Fernández starred in fourteen films, including the classic El Esqueleto de la señora Morales (1960). In 1964, she took the supporting role of Sara, the nemesis of Cantinflas's character Padre Sebastián, in El padrecito. She starred in Cadenas de amor at the age of 37, and other telenovelas in the 1960s with the second to last one in 1970. It was not until she was hired in 1973 to play "La Bruja del 71" in El Chavo del Ocho that she cemented her status as a legend. She got that job when she asked her personal friend, Ramón Valdés, if he knew of any acting jobs she might be able to do.

She also participated in Chespirito's other show, El Chapulín Colorado, years later. It was with El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulín Colorado that she achieved fame in her native Spain. The two Chespirito productions became wide international hits, reaching virtually every country in the Americas and also other, non-Spanish speaking, countries as well. The shows are still shown with re-runs in many countries. In 1974, she participated in her last telenovela and her last film and concentrated her work around Chespirito productions.

After the shows ended in 1979, she continued playing "La Bruja" on the hour-long Chespirito and on public tours. Starting later in the 1980s, she began playing Ignacia Fernández "Doña Nachita", a second regular character on Chespirito, the gossipy neighbor in the Los caquitos sketches. She remained on the show until 1992.

Fernández had a daughter named Paloma Fernández.

An acknowledged tobacco smoker, she died on 25 March 1994 from a tobacco related cancer (sources mention it being throat cancer without giving further details). She is entombed at the Mausoleos del Ángel in Mexico City. She was 69.

Film

Television

• El Chavo del ocho (1973–1979) as Doña Clotilde ("La bruja del 71")
• El Chapulín Colorado (1973)
• Chespirito (1980–1994) as Doña Clotilde / Doña Nachita

Telenovelas

• Teresa (1959) as Esmeralda
• Cadenas de amor (1959)
• Un amor en la sombra (1960)
• Gabriela (1960)
• El hombre de oro (1960)
• La telaraña (1961)
• La familia del 6 (1961)
• La madrastra (1962)
• La herida del tiempo (1962)
• Teatro del cuatro (1964)
• La intrusa (1964)
• Tú eres un extraño (1965)
• Sonata de otoño (1966)
• La duquesa (1966)
• Encadenados (1969)
• Rafael (1970)
• Ha llegado una intrusa (1974)

• Foreign-born artists in Mexico