Carlos Rottemberg revealed the request that Daniel Tinayre made about Mirtha Legrand hours before he died

Carlos Rottemberg once again put into words a story of friendship that spans decades of Argentine entertainment In his book Pasen y lean: 50 años de teatrista y algo más, the theater producer reflects on the bond that united him with Daniel Tinayre and, through him, with Mirtha Legrand. The narrative goes beyond work anecdotes: it shows how a promise made in the intimacy of a sanatorium forever marked his way of supporting the host.

The relationship with Tinayre was forged in the 80s, when both were moving in the theater production circuit Rottemberg recalls that the connection to Mirtha and her family —including Goldy and José— was made possible thanks to that bond. “In my case, the relationship with Mirtha began with Daniel, with whom I established a close union,” he writes. The closeness became a daily occurrence: they spoke every night, sometimes just to greet each other, something that Legrand herself confessed to him with a hint of jealousy.

The producer highlights Tinayre's attitudes towards him and his family as “infinite” and impossible to forget. That affection remained alive even in the toughest moments. In May 2020, when the presenter’s sister passed away, Rottemberg received a call from a devastated Mirtha. They lived a block away. He hesitated to break quarantine to accompany her just a few meters away and with a mask, but he went. Behind that decision was an old promise.

On October 23, 1994, Daniel Tinayre passed away. The night before, Rottemberg had been at his house, lying on the bed, telling him details about the premiere of Matrimonios y algo más at the Tabarís. They shared a simple dinner with Mirtha and then accompanied him to the hospital. Once at the sanatorium, Tinayre gathered the strength to speak.

The request that changed everything

He looked at his wife and said: “Chiquita, do the show on Monday” Then he turned his head towards Rottemberg and asked him: “Take care of her.” Those two words became a mandate. Since then, the producer took on the commitment to be close to Mirtha personally, beyond work projects. Even when they stopped working together in 2011, he chose to remain in a place removed from the economic aspects and the spotlight that, according to him, only belongs to her.

In the book, Rottemberg combines a journey through five decades of premieres and theaters with the human relationships that marked his path The episode with Tinayre appears as one of the most significant: not only because it brought him closer to a central figure in Argentine entertainment, but because it left him with a responsibility that he continues to fulfill. Accompanying Mirtha in the pain of 2020 was not an isolated gesture, but the continuation of that night in October 1994.

The work also recovers how those ties became part of the producer's daily life and how they influenced his way of understanding the artistic world. The friendship that was born in the rehearsals and performances of the 80s extended to Legrand's family and was consolidated in gestures of presence when they were most needed.

Rottemberg does not present Tinayre's request as an anecdote for remembrance, but as the origin of a promise that still guides his relationship with the host today. In his memoirs, trust and affection appear as the true legacy of those years shared in the theater and in the intimacy of a friendship that was not interrupted even by death.