Wolf Ruvinskis

Wolf Ruvinskis
Ring name(s)	Wolf Ruvinskis[1] Neutrón[2] Wolf Rubinsky[2] Wolf Rubinski[1]
Billed weight	80 kg (180 lb)[1]
Born	October 31, 1921(1921-10-31)[1] Riga, Latvia[1]
Died	November 9, 1999(1999-11-09) (aged 78)[1] Mexico City, Mexico[1]

Wolf Ruvinskis (October 30, 1921 – November 9, 1999), born Wolf Ruvinskis Manevics, was a naturalized Mexican actor and Luchador, or professional wrestler. He was married three times, to Beatriz Perez, dancer Armida Herrera and actress Lilia Michel. Born to Jewish parents, they relocated to Argentina during World War II. In spite of living in extreme poverty he excelled in sports and as a professional wrestler he toured South America, the United States and Mexico. This last country became his place of residence where he stayed in the ring well into the 1960s, wrestling El Santo, Black Shadow, El Médico Asesino and Lobo Negro. As a wrestler he was introduced to the Cinema of Mexico playing luchadors, in particular a masked character he created called Neutrón.

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]

Professional wrestling career

Ruvinskis 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]

Acting career

After 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]

Late life

After 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]

Acting Awards

• Ariel Award by the Mexican Academy of Film

• Best supporting actor for Juego limpio (1996)

Filmography

As a producer

• La última lucha (1959)

As an actor

• La mujer de los dos (1996)
• Juego limpio (1996)
• Un Ángel para los Diablillos (1993)
• Días de combate (1987)
• Rosa de dos aromas (1989)
• La Mafia tiembla (1987)
• La fuga de Carrasco (1983)
• Nocaut (1983) – as don Saúl
• El Patrullero 777 (1977)
• El Mexicano (1976) – as lieutenant José Alvarado
• El Hombre del puente (1975) – as the military dictator
• Acapulco 12-22 (1971) – as Claude, yacht captain
• El crepúsculo de un dios (1968) – as Charles González
• Esclava del deseo (1967) – as Bronco
• Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata vs. los villanos del ring (1966) – as Rodolfo Labra
• Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata vs. la invasión de los marcianos (1966) – as Argos
• Cargamento prohibido (1965) – as Carlos Aguilar
• El señor doctor (1965) – as Beto's father
• Jinetes de la llanura (1964) – as Andrés Menchaca
• Neutrón Movie series as Neutrón

• Neutrón contra el doctor sádico (1964)
• Neutrón contra los asesinos del karate (1961)
• Los autómatas de la muerte (1960)
• Neutrón contra el doctor Caronte (1960)
• Neutrón el Enmascarado Negro (1960)

• El Rapto de las Sabinas (1960) – as Rómulo
• Las canciones unidas (1960) – as soviet delegate
• Vivo o muerto (1959) – as Crisanto Medina
• La estrella vacía (1958) – as Tomás Téllez
• La última lucha (1958) – as Lobo
• Los Tigres del Ring series (1957) – as Mario or Rafael

• El torneo de la muerte
• Furias desatadas
• Secuestro diabólico
• Los tigres del ring

• El superflaco (1957) – as Rudy
• Paso a la juventud (1957) – as Rodolfo
• A media luz los tres (1957) – as Sebastián Reyes
• Ladrón de cadáveres (1956) – as Guillermo Santana
• Los tres mosqueteros... y medio (1956) – as Aramís
• El gato sin botas (1956) – as Humberto Carrasco
• El medallón del crimen (El 13 de oro) (1955) – as Ramón Torres
• El túnel seis (1955) – as Ricardo Álvarez
• Los Gavilanes (1954) – as Rómulo
• El sultán descalzo (1954) – as Hilario Trujeque
• La vida no vale nada (1954) – as El Caimán
• La gitana blanca (1954) – as Yaco
• ¿Por qué ya no me quieres? (1953) – as the gangster
• Caballero a la medida (1953) – as Chucho
• Reportaje (1953) – as policeman
• La sexta carrera (1953) – as horseracer
• El vagabundo (1953) – as Hércules
• Pepe el Toro (1952) – as Bobby Galeana
• El plebeyo (1952) – as Lobo
• Me traes de un ala (1952) – as Mayordomo
• El señor fotógrafo (1952) – as Esbirro principal
• Cuando levanta la niebla (1952) – as sick man
• Las tres alegres comadres (1952) – as Tranquilino
• El bello durmiente (1952) – as Tracatá/doctor Heinrich Wolf
• La bestia magnífica (1952) – as Carlos
• Los tres alegres compadres (1951) – as Diana's lover
• Las locuras de Tin Tan (1951) – as crazy strong guy
• La noche avanza (1951) – as Bodoques
• Mujeres sin mañana (1951) – as Juan
• El revoltoso (1951) – as Roberto
• Trotacalles (1951) – as Carlos
• Camino del infierno (1950) – as Tony
• Simbad el mareado (1950) – as Mary's boyfriend
• El hombre sin rostro (1950) – as monstruo
• Amor salvaje (1949) – as marinero
• La oveja negra (1949) – as the boxer El Campeón Asesino
• Hipócrita (1949) – as El Rayas
• No me defiendas, compadre (1949) – as the wrestler El Enmascarado

Television roles

• I Spy (March 4, 1968, episode #321 Shana) as Andreyev

In wrestling

• Nicknames

• El Lobo ("The Wolf")^[2]
• El Lobo Letonia ("The Lativan Wolf")^[1]
• Monstruo de la Mil Cabezas ("Thousand-headed Monster")^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Enciclopedia staff (November, 2008). "Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre" (in Spanish). Wolf Rubinskins (1921-1999) (Portales, Mexico): p. 64. 17. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} SuperLuchas staff (August 10, 2009). "La Ultima Lucha" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas: p. 27. issue 326. 
3. ^ Raton, Sr. (August 17, 2009). "Te Das?" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas: p. 23. issue 327. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Raton, Sr. (November 16, 2009). "Te Das?" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas: p. 24. issue 340. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Wolf Ruvinskis at the Cinema of Mexico site of the ITESM
• Wolf Ruvinskis at the Internet Movie Database
• Neutrón profile at International Hero

Persondata
Name	Ruvinskis, Wolf
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 31, 1921
Place of birth	Riga, Latvia, Soviet Union
Date of death	November 9, 1999
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico