José Pereira de Abreu Júnior (; born 24 May 1946) is a Brazilian actor.

Biography

Born in the city of Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, at the age of fourteen he moved to the state's capital,

city, working as a lab assistant and office-boy for a law firm. In 1967, while studying law at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, he began his theatrical career at the

Teatro da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo Teatro da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo is a theatre in São Paulo, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin Am ...

, with the play '' Morte e Vida Severina'' by

João Cabral de Melo Neto João Cabral de Melo Neto (January 6, 1920 – October 9, 1999) was a Brazilian poet and diplomat, and one of the most influential writers in late Brazilian modernism. He was awarded the 1990 Camões Prize and the 1992 Neustadt International ...

and

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

. A year later, he was starring in movies, but his career came to a quick halt because of his political activism. Abreu was arrested during a meeting of the União Nacional dos Estudantes, belonged to the Ação Popular and gave logistical support to the Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares, a leftist group that fought against the military regime. He also joined the

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

movement during that time, in contrast with his militaristic actions. Forced into exile in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1968, he returned in 1974 to live in

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and municipality (''município''), the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located 270 km (168 mi) from Porto Alegre, the state's capital city, and 130 km (80.8& ...

, state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...

, his wife's homeland. They both taught at the federal university in that city, but soon moved to

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, where he produced musicals and starred in children's plays. With his wife, he produced the first staging of the musical ''Os Saltimbancos'' in that state. Then, after the success of the movie '' A Intrusa'' (The Intruder) (1979), filmed in Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, he started work as an actor in

TV Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Gr ...

's soap-operas. In 2006 he partnered with director Luiz Arthur Nunes to create ''Fala, Zé!'', a theatrical monologue in which he critically reflects on his generation, crossing biography and fiction. In 2011 he played Milton in the soap-opera ''

Insensato Coração ''Insensato Coração'' (''Irrational Heart'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Globo that first premiered 17 January 2011, replacing '' Passione'' and ended on 19 August 2011, followed by ''Fina Estampa''. It is created and wri ...

''; in 2012, the character Nilo in '' Avenida Brasil''; in 2013, the character Ernest in ''

Joia Rara ''Joia Rara'' (, English: officially ''Precious Pearl''; literally Rare Jewel, figuratively Unique Grace) is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo originally ran from 16 September 2013 to 4 April 2014. In November 2014, ''Joi ...

''; and in 2015 the villain Gibson Stewart in ''

A Regra do Jogo ''A Regra do Jogo'' (English title: ''Rules of The Game'') is a Brazilian primetime telenovela, created by João Emanuel Carneiro for Rede Globo. It premiered on August 31, 2015 at 9 pm timeslot. Written by João Emanuel Carneiro, internat ...

''.

Personal life

He has five children, with three different partners. His first child, Rodrigo, died in an accident in 1992, at age 21. He also has four grandchildren. In early 2013, he declared he is

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

, then in a few days later he tweeted he is not bi but poly instead. On March 8, 2019, he was jokingly proclaimed as "president" of the Federative Republic of Brazil in an act of protest at Galeao Airport near Rio.

Career

Abreu performed in over 24 movies and 47 television shows, of which most are soap operas.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
José de Abreu - blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abreu, Jose de 1946 births Living people Bisexual male actors People from Santa Rita do Passa Quatro Brazilian male actors LGBT actors from Brazil