Ricardo was a dentist who started to paint his face so that kids would not be afraid of him as he worked on their teeth. He became famous when a local TV channel interviewed him. The name
Cepillín means "Little (tooth)Brush" in Spanish (while "cepillo" means literally "brush", the origin of the nickname implies it is, in fact, referring to a toothbrush). With
Televisa he had a show called
El Show de Cepillín starting in 1977. This was an educational, comedy and interview show with guests such as
Lou Ferrigno (who was
Hulk on the popular TV show). The show was a success in Mexico as well as Chile and
Puerto Rico. He arguably became the most famous clown in Mexico and all Latin America. His show was aired in more than 18 countries. Cepillín recorded 27 long play albums of children songs, 11 of which went gold. In all they sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. The most popular songs were
La feria de Cepillín (Cepillín's Fair),
Tomás ("Thomas"),
En el bosque de la China (“The little Chinese forest") and
La Gallina Cocoua. Cepillín also helped younger artists to acquire fame such as singer
Yuri, who took a role in his movie '''' ("Miracle in the circus"), and
Salma Hayek, to whom he gave the opportunity in the masterpiece Aladdin as Jasmine. Cepillín had another show in 1987 called
Una sonrisa con Cepillín on Channel 5 of
Televisa. In 1990 he returned to Monterrey for
Súper sábados con Cepillín which featured his sons Ricardo González Jr (″Cepi″) and Roberto González (″Franky″). In 2006 he and his sons recorded
Cepillín live for
Multimedios Television. From 1982 to 2006 he toured Mexico and the United States with a
circus that bore his name. ==Political activism==