Marco Antonio Campos, also known as Viruta, was a talented Mexican entertainer, musician, singer, and screenwriter. He is best remembered as the serious half of the comedy duo Viruta and Capulina, alongside Gaspar Henaine, who played the role of the chubby and silly half.
Born in Mexico City during the Mexican Revolution, Campos inherited his musical talent from his mother, Sara Contreras, who played piano, guitar, and had a beautiful voice. After his parents' divorce, he and his mother moved to his maternal grandparents' home, where he developed a lifelong love for books. At the age of 18, he decided to pursue a career in entertainment and left home to work as a bar singer.
Campos made his professional debut in 1938 as a member of the musical quartet El Poker de la Armonía and went on to sing and play tropical music with the Trío Latino and the Trío Romanceros. He found his stage name, Viruta, after expressing his desire to become a great dancer like Adalberto Martínez, but his friends said he looked more like a woodchip than a coil spring.
In the early 1950s, Campos started a singing duo with Chamula, but the partnership was short-lived due to Chamula's heavy drinking. It was shortly after that when Gaspar Henaine, Capulina, invited Campos to create a new comedy duo for stage and radio. Before the decade was over, Viruta and Capulina were starring in their hit TV show Cómicos y canciones and had already released their first box-office success, Se los chupó la bruja.
The next decade brought Viruta and Capulina even more fame, with the duo touring Latin America and making highly profitable movies for several production companies. Their screenplays were usually written by Jaime Salvador or Roberto Gómez Bolaños. Campos wrote the story of Cascabelito, which Henaine thought was one of the duo's best movies.
However, their joint career was waning, and Dos pintores pintorescos was their last movie. Henaine chose to embark on a new career without Campos and began producing his own movies. Now alone, Campos reinvented himself as a television host and a reliable supporting actor. He enjoyed playing character roles but eventually retired before the end of the decade to spend more time with his wife and mother.
In his free time, Campos enjoyed writing, music, painting, and sculpturing. At the time of his death, he was planning the publication of his two-volume autobiography, "Memorias de un trovador".
