Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff: Cause of Death and Facts About Cantinflas' Wife - Dicy Trends (2024)

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff was a Mexican dancer and actress of Russian origin. She is mostly identified as the wife of Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes commonly known by his stage name Cantinflas. Cantinflas is considered to have been the most widely-accomplished Mexican comedian and is celebrated throughout Latin America and in Spain as a popular icon.

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff: Bio Summary

Cantinflas’ wife Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff was born on October 27, 1915, in Moscow, Russia. She holds Russian nationality. She was born to her parents Iván Zúbarev and Anita Ivanoff. Her parents fled with their three daughters from the turmoil of the 1919 Russian Civil War, moving to Mexico.

They founded a traveling theater company called Carpa Valentina. Valentina her mother alongside her two sisters Olga and Támara formed the so-called Zubareff Trio, the three dancers with a rhythmic style and unique beauty made up the star number of the show.

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff married Cantinflas who joined Valentina carpa in 1929. The duo started a relationship and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. They got married on 27 October 1936, despite parental reservations.

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff quit being a dancer since she got married. However, there is no information available about Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff’s educational qualifications and background. She has not revealed any information about her academic qualification.

Did Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff Have Children With Cantinflas

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff and her husband Cantinflas didn’t have any children together. Valentina didn’t have her own children but she and her husband Cantinflas legally adopted a son. The son is believed to be the biological son of Valentina’s husband Cantinflas.

The son was born in 1961 to Cantinflas by another woman. The adopted child was named Mario Arturo Moreno Ivanova, causing some references to erroneously refer to him as “Cantinflas’ adopted son”. Moreno Ivanova died on 15 May 2017, of a presumed heart attack.

Did Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff & Cantinflas Get Divorced?

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff and her husband Cantinflas didn’t get divorced. The couple stayed together until death separated them. The pair were married since 27 October 1936. They were married for 3 decades until Valentina’s death.

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff Cause of Death

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff died on January 5, 1966, in Mexico City, Mexico. She died when she was 50 years old. She died from bone cancer. Her husband Cantinflas died on 20 April 1993 at the age of 81 years old. He died in Mexico City, Mexico of lung cancer.

Cantinflas’s funeral was attended by thousands of people even though it was on a rainy day. The ceremony was a national event, lasting three days. He was honored by many heads of state and the United States Senate, which held a moment of silence for him.

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Cantinflas’s ashes lay at the crypt of the Moreno Reyes family, in the Panteón Español (“Spanish Cemetery”) in Mexico City.

Who Was Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff’s Husband?

Valentina Ivanova Zuvareff’s husband was born Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes. He was welcomed into the world in the Santa María la Redonda neighborhood of Mexico City, on 12 August 1911. He was raised in the tough neighborhood of Tepito. His parents are Pedro Moreno Esquivel and María de la Soledad Reyes Guízar.

His mother María de la Soledad Reyes Guízar was from Cotija, Michoacán. His father Pedro Moreno Esquivel worked as an impoverished mail carrier. He was one of his parents’ eight children. His siblings are Pedro, José (“Pepe”), Eduardo, Esperanza, Catalina, Enrique, and Roberto.

Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes performed a variety of acts in traveling tents, and he acquired the nickname, Cantinflas. He is widely known by his nickname Cantinflas, which is his stage name. He became a comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Before starting his professional life in entertainment, he explored careers, such as medicine and professional boxing, before becoming a dancer.

Cantinflas is considered to have been the most widely-accomplished Mexican comedian and is celebrated throughout Latin America and in Spain as a popular icon. His humor, loaded with Mexican linguistic features of intonation, vocabulary, and syntax, is beloved in all the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America and in Spain and has given rise to a range of expressions including cantinflear, cantinflada, cantinflesco, and cantinflero.

Some of Cantinflas’ films were translated into English and French, the wordplay was so particular to Mexican Spanish that it was difficult to translate. He often portrayed impoverished farmers or a peasant of pelado origin. The character allowed Cantinflas to establish a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood.

Charlie Chaplin once commented that he was the best comedian alive, and he has been referred to as the “Charlie Chaplin of Mexico”. To audiences in most of the world, he is best remembered as co-starring with David Niven in the Oscar-winning film Around the World in 80 Days. He was a pioneer of the cinema of Mexico and helped usher in its golden era.

Cantinflas was a business leader. He was involved in Mexico’s tangled and often dangerous labor politics. His reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against charrismo, the one-party government’s practice of co-opting and controlling unions.