Valentine Pimstein Weiner (1925-2017) was a Chilean soap opera producer adopted by Mexico as the pioneer of the pink soap opera. In his legacy there are more than 90 dramas for the small screen that marked an era in different generations.
Among his most outstanding productions are The rich also cry, Live a little, Wild rose, Carousel, Love has the face of a woman, The home that I stole, Soledad, Toy world, Chispita, Simply María and La fiera, among many others.
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Pimstein was born in Santiago de Chile into a very large Jewish family of Russian descent, being the seventh of nine siblings.
His mother, a fan of radio soap operas -which were very popular during Valentine's childhood-, was a clear influence so that years later he found his passion and amazed the Hispanic world.
He married Victoria Ranioff, with whom he had three children: Viviana, Verónica and Víctor.
He left Santiago for Mexico when he was just coming of age, to start working in the cinema as an assistant director.
He also worked in a nightclub, where on a casual night he met Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, who by then was in charge of the Telesistema Mexicano chain, the current Televisa..
Since then, he began the journey that led him exactly where he should be: in a television studio.
Described by those close to him as a fanatic of romanticism and melodrama, he made his debut in 1958 with the novel Gutierritos, to later give a transcendental blow of authority with his essence by creating productions that today are considered classics..
In Gutierritos, his first television job, he told the story of Ángel, a hard-working and kind man who is humiliated by his friends, co-workers and even by his wife..
One day he falls in love with a new colleague and, seized by shyness, is unable to express his feelings to her. To achieve this, he writes a book in which he confesses his love for the beautiful woman. He entrusts the secret to his friend Jorge, who steals the book, publishes it in his name and usurps all his credit.
But what hurts Ángel the most is that through the book, Jorge conquers and steals his girlfriend. From now on, the protagonist tries to reveal the truth at all costs and show that he is the author of the book and therefore the one who deserves the love of the most desired.
This is how Pimstein's plot unfolded over 50 episodes, setting the course for the next five decades of soap operas with a style that would conquer the hearts of millions of viewers throughout Latin America..
The success of Gutierritos was followed -among his most outstanding works- Love has the face of a woman (1971). This one in particular marked a milestone by becoming one of the longest novels in the history of Mexican television with a total of 400 episodes between 1971 and 1973, a true “soap opera” that lasted more than two years..
In it, a group of women united their friendship ties between anecdotes and everyday events, some more shocking than others, capturing a very heterogeneous mix of social patterns and diverse tastes, undoubtedly one of the keys to its success..
Toy world (1974) did not give respite to his perpetual streak: now with a children's soap opera he earned the respect and admiration of the medium, beyond the rating.
In 1979, five years later, his myth rose even more with The Rich Also Cry, starring Verónica Castro, a star who made the great leap to fame thanks to Pimstein's ingenuity..
This dramatic catapulted Mexican soap operas towards internationalization, beyond Aztec lands.
And it was not only Verónica Castro who became a figure in the hands of Pimstein. The select group of celebrities who stood out is made up of Ofelia Medina, Angélica Aragón, Lucía Méndez, Edith González and Victoria Ruffo.
In the 80s he continued with Colorina, starring Lucía Méndez in the role of a prostitute.
With Angélica Aragón he made Vivir un poco (1985), in which he unloaded to the maximum the characteristic melodrama of his style with a story of murder, mystery and investigation linked by the character of Aragón (Andrea Santos), a woman imprisoned for decades because of of a crime that he did not commit.
Carrusel (1989) marked a time culminating in the 1980s with a group of adorable children who, guided by their teacher, cope with all kinds of problems that arise in childhood, in school classrooms and in families. It is considered one of Pimstein's most momentous successes..
That same year, Simply María aired, starring Victoria Ruffo. It was another great success of the father of the pink soap opera.
María Mercedes (1992) closed the golden age of Valentín Pimstein on Televisa, with Thalía in the main role of the story of a young woman of humble origin who marries a sick billionaire about to die, so as not to leave her inheritance to people greedy with ghoulish plans.
In this way, Pimstein's style passed from generation to generation, imposing a style of soap operas characterized by versatility and unexpected twists..
And it is that among its hundreds or thousands of detractors and critics, an indisputable aspect has always been that their stories may not be liked and others generated controversy, but in no way could they be predictable.
He always carried as a banner the most magical and surreal love, a dreamlike romanticism that did not exist until his ingenuity reached the Televisa network, where in addition to being a star producer he served as vice president of telenovelas.
Likewise, he was the master of a brood of novice producers who, as a result of his experience, developed in the medium and were very successful, such as Juan Osorio, Lucero Suárez, Salvador Mejía and Pedro Damián..
After his departure from television, Pimstein returned to his homeland Chile. There he lived with his family and died at the age of 91..
Among the connoisseurs of the television industry in Latin America and North America, Valentín Pimstein left an indelible mark. It marked the beginning of a mass phenomenon that continues to this day in other dimensions: the popular culture of soap operas.
Today they are still consumed by millions of viewers around the world, even with retransmissions of their classics, unforgettable and very peculiar stories that inspired many others..
But none like those of Pimstein, who had the power to provoke all kinds of emotions in the viewers, who stayed in suspense every afternoon waiting in front of the television for a new episode and prayed that the end of the plot was as far away as possible..
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