Saval was the son of
film actress and
opera singer Manolita Saval and Manuel Ruiz. In 1983 he married Martha Eugenia Gallegos, with whom he had a son, Francisco. In late December 2008, while in recovery from
tracheal surgery at the
Instituto Nacional de Cancerología in
Mexico City, it was announced that recovery was going well and he might be able to return home for the holiday season. But by the third week of May, 2009, Saval had returned to the hospital and was reported to be in critical condition. On his birthday in 2009, a gathering held in his honor was arranged by
Adal Ramones and attended by his many friends. Because of his ill health, Saval was unable to attend, but a video connection was established between his home and the gathering. His friends remembered him for his great kindness and as always being an elegant person. He died on June 23, 2009, one day after his 53rd birthday, after a three-year battle with cancer of the larynx, which he attributed to his smoking. ==Career==