Wolf Rubinsky
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Biography
Born on October 30, 1921, in Riga, Latvia which was part of the Soviet Union at the time his parents emigrated to Argentina at the beginning of World War II for fear of a Nazi invasion of Latvia. The Ruvinskis family lived in poverty in Argentina, forcing a very young Wolf Ruvinskis to begin wrestling professionally as a way to help provide for his family.[1]
[edit] Professional wrestling careerRuvinskis quickly became a proficient Rudo (bad guy) in wrestling, which led him to be booked on tours of South America and later on both Mexico and the United States.[1] When he came to Mexico he was originally slated for a short tour of the country before moving on, but he fell in love with the country and settled there soon after. He also met and married a Mexican woman and started a family.[3] In the ring he played a savage, vicious Rudo character which was very successful and manage to draw large crowds wherever he went as everyone wanted the local top tecnico ("good guy") to defeat the savage El Lobo Letonia ("The Latvian Wolf").[1] His promising wrestling career was cut short around 1950 when accumulated injuries forced him to stop wrestling.[1]
[edit] Acting careerAfter his retirement Ruvinskis focused on his second passion, acting. He had already played smaller parts in movies before retirement but after he retired he went into the acting business full time. One of his most memorable roles was in the movie La bestia magnífica ("The Magnificent Beast") from 1953. With his background in wrestling it was only a matter of time before he became involved in the Mexican Lucha film genre. Ruviniskis played the part of a masked wrestling character called Neutrón in a series of movies between 1960 and 1964.[4] His acting career ended in 1996 with the movie La mujer de los dos ("The woman of the two"). In recent years Lucha movies have been shown regularly on Mexican television leading to a bit of a revival of Wolf Ruvinskis' memory, reminding fans that Ruviniski was both a great wrestler and a great actor.[4]
[edit] Late lifeAfter he stopped acting Ruvinskis opened a restaurant and became a very hands-on, passionate restaurateur who oversaw a couple of Argentinian restaurants in Mexico City named "El Rincón Gaucho". While he played a hated villain in wrestling his real persona was a complete opposite, described as a gentleman who lived to entertain diners with conversation and jokes, or at times even an Argentinian Tango.[1] Wolf Ruviniskis died on November 9, 1999 in Mexico City.[1]
