Florinda Meza

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

Florinda Meza García (born 8 February 1949) is a Mexican actress, comedian, television producer, and screenwriter.^[1] She is best known as Doña Florinda and Popis in El Chavo del Ocho, La Chimoltrufia in Chespirito, and other various roles in El Chapulín Colorado.

Florinda Meza
Meza in May 2019
Born	Florinda Meza García (1949-02-08) 8 February 1949 (age 76) Juchipila, Zacatecas, Mexico
Occupations	Actress television producer screenwriter
Years active	1969–present
Notable work	Doña Florinda in El Chavo del Ocho
Spouse	Chespirito ​ ​ (m. 2004; died 2014)​

Early life and career

Meza was born in Juchipila, Zacatecas, the daughter of Emilia García and Hector Meza.^[2]

She was cast by Roberto Gómez Bolaños to play Doña Florinda [es; pt] (and later Popis [es]) in the Televisa sitcom El Chavo del Ocho, which would become a major international hit. The show would last from February 26, 1973, to January 7, 1980 (although the sketch would continue until 1992), during which she and Gómez Bolaños began a lifelong affair that never produced any children. During her tenure on the Chespirito television series, she was also known to have played Édgar Vivar's character "Botija"'s wife "María Expropiación Petronila Lascuráin y Torquemada", famously known as "La Chimoltrufia" in the sketch "Los Caquitos" (alongside Gómez Bolaños who played the role of Chómpiras). Meza would also participate prominent roles in Chespirito's other main sitcom, El Chapulín Colorado.

After production of Chespirito ended in 1995, she and Gómez Bolaños began touring extensively. The couple would eventually get married in a civil ceremony on 19 November 2004 after a 27-year relationship.

Meza would also participate in several movies, as well as produced telenovelas including La Dueña, Alguna Vez Tendremos Alas, and Milagro y Magia, in which she also acted.

Filmography

As actress

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	El chanfle	Tere	Debut film
1982	El chanfle II	Tere
1983	Don ratón y don ratero	Aftadolfa
1984	Charrito	Hija del Sheriff
1988	Música de viento	Valentina
2019	Dulce familia	Verónica

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971–1973	Chespirito	Doña Florinda [es; pt]	Lead role
1973–1980	El Chavo del Ocho	Doña Florinda / La Popis [es]	Lead role
1973–1979	El Chapulín Colorado	Novia / Esposa / La Popis
1973	La tierra
1974	Mundo de juguete
1979	La chicharra	Cándida	Episode: "Llegó el play boy Narciso Fajardo"
1980–1995	Chespirito	Doña Florinda / Cándida / Enfermera	Lead role
1991	Milagro y magia	Elisa	Lead role

As a producer

Year	Title	Notes
1985	María de nadie
1995	La dueña	Executive producer
1997	Alguna vez tendremos alas	Executive producer

In popular culture

In 2025, Meza was portrayed in the series Chespirito: Not Really on Purpose by Bárbara López under the pseudonym Margarita Ruíz. Due to disagreements between producer Roberto Gómez Fernández and Florinda Meza over the storyline’s development and the alleged misuse of her likeness, they chose to remove her name and use “Margarita Ruiz” instead.^[3] The series portrays Meza's apparent relationship with Chespirito and other cast members. However, Meza has disputed what is depicted in the series and has claimed that it is a “distortion of the story.”^[4]