Milton Gonçalves (; 9 December 1933 – 30 May 2022) was a Brazilian actor and television director, who was one of the most famous
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
actors in Brazil, having collaborated twice with acclaimed director
Héctor Babenco
Héctor Eduardo Babenco (February 7, 1946July 13, 2016) was an Argentine-Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who worked in several countries including Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. He was one of the first Braz ...
. One notable role with Babenco was that alongside
William Hurt
William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.
...
and
Raul Julia
Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...
telenovela
A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...
s, including ''
A Cabana do Pai Tomás
''A Cabana do Pai Tomás'' is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It is based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's ''Uncle Tom's Cabin
''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American autho ...
'', ''
Irmãos Coragem
''Irmãos Coragem'' is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 8 June 1970 and ended on 12 July 1971, with a total of 328 episodes. It's the ninth "novela das oito" to be aired on the timeslot. It is created and ...
'', ''
O Bem-Amado
''O Bem-Amado'' is a Brazilian telenovela that first aired on Rede Globo in 1973. It is based on a play by Dias Gomes called ''Odorico, o Bem-Amado ou Os Mistérios do Amor e da Morte'', written in 1962. It was the first Brazilian color telenovela ...
'', ''
Pecado Capital
''Pecado Capital'' is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 24 November 1975 and ended on 4 June 1976, with a total of 167 episodes. It's the sixteenth "novela das oito" to be aired on the timeslot. It is crea ...
Partido Alto
Partido Alto refers to a type of samba with a number of particularities. In the world of samba subgenres and in samba reunions, partido alto songs (informally called ''partidos'') can represent a time for improvisation and (humorous or not) dispu ...
'', ''
Mandala
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
'', ''
Felicidade
''Felicidade'' (English: ''Happiness'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo
TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television netwo ...
'', ''
A Favorita
''A Favorita'' (English: ''The Favorite'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast TV Globo. It premiered 2 June 2008 to 17 January 2009 with a total number of episodes of 197. It is created by João Emanuel Carneiro and directed by Ricar ...
'', and ''
Lado a Lado
''Lado a Lado'' (; ''Side by Side'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo from 10 September 2012 to 8 March 2013. It is created by João Ximenes Braga and Claudia Lage, with Chico Soares, Douglas Tourinho, Fernando Rebell ...
''. He also worked as
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''Di ...
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 GaWC a ...
, in an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
group. As he moved to a professional group, he met
Augusto Boal
Augusto Boal (16 March 1931 – 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical left popular education movemen ...
, who was looking for an actor to play an old black man. Joining Boal's Teatro de Arena, Milton Gonçalves found an open environment for political, philosophical, and artistic discussion, where he was not discriminated against on the baseless basis of his race.
Gonçalves wrote four plays, one of which was staged by the ''Teatro Experimental do Negro'' and directed by Dalmo Ferreira. He said of this engagement "There I learnt everything I know about Theater. It was fundamental for my comprehension of the world."
A Black Movement activist, Milton Gonçalves tried a political career, in the 1990s, as a candidate to
Rio de Janeiro state
Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...
governorship.
Father of actor Maurício Gonçalves, he was married to Oda Gonçalves from 1966 until her death in 2013.
Death
Gonçalves died in Rio de Janeiro on 30 May 2022, at the age of 88, from complications of a stroke he had suffered two years earlier.
Selected filmography
* 2012 - ''
Lado a Lado
''Lado a Lado'' (; ''Side by Side'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo from 10 September 2012 to 8 March 2013. It is created by João Ximenes Braga and Claudia Lage, with Chico Soares, Douglas Tourinho, Fernando Rebell ...
Zorra Total
''Zorra Total'' was a Brazilian television comedy broadcast by TV Globo. It was launched on March 25, 1999, and has been shown on Saturdays at 10p.m. since May 1999.
Despite being audience leader in its exhibition schedule, ''Zorra'' is heavily cr ...
''
* 2011 - ''
Fina Estampa
''Fina Estampa'' (''Looks & Essence'') is a Brazilian telenovela that first aired on Globo between August 22, 2011 and March 23, 2012 in 185 chapters.
''
* 2011 - ''
Assalto ao Banco Central
''Federal Bank Heist'' ( pt, Assalto ao Banco Central) is a 2011 Brazilian thriller film directed and produced by Marcos Paulo Simões, starring Milhem Cortaz, Hermila Guedes, Eriberto Leão and Lima Duarte. It is based on the 2005 Banco Central b ...
''
* 2011 - ''
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 ...
''
* 2009 - ''
Força-Tarefa
''Força-Tarefa'' (in English, "Task-Force") is a Brazilian television series directed by José Alvarenga Jr. and Mário Márcio Bandarra and written by Fernando Bonassi and Marçal Aquino. The series aired two season since April 16, 2009 on R ...
''
* 2008 - ''
A Favorita
''A Favorita'' (English: ''The Favorite'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast TV Globo. It premiered 2 June 2008 to 17 January 2009 with a total number of episodes of 197. It is created by João Emanuel Carneiro and directed by Ricar ...
''
* 2006 - ''
Cobras & Lagartos
''Cobras & Lagartos'' (English title: ''Snakes & Lizards'') is a Brazilian telenovela that was produced and aired by TV Globo from 24 April to 18 November 2006, totaling 179 episodes.
The show featured Mariana Ximenes, Daniel de Oliveira as ma ...
Orfeu
''Orfeu'' is a 1999 Brazilian drama film directed by Carlos Diegues, based on the play ''Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Moraes. It retells the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in the modern context of Rio de Janeiro during ...
''
* 1997 - ''
Four Days in September
''Four Days in September'' ( pt, O Que É Isso, Companheiro?) is a 1997 Brazilian thriller film directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents Lucy and Luiz Carlos Barreto. It is a dramatized version of the 1969 kidnapping of the United ...
O Rei do Gado
''O Rei do Gado'' (English: ''King of Cattle'') is a Brazilian telenovela written by Benedito Ruy Barbosa and directed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho that was produced and broadcast on TV Globo, from 17 June 1996 to 15 February 1997, totaling 209 epi ...
''
* 1995 - ''
Irmãos Coragem
''Irmãos Coragem'' is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 8 June 1970 and ended on 12 July 1971, with a total of 328 episodes. It's the ninth "novela das oito" to be aired on the timeslot. It is created and ...
''
* 1992 - ''
Kickboxer 3
''Kickboxer 3'' (stylized on-screen as ''Kickboxer III: The Art of War'') is a 1992 American martial arts film directed by Rick King. The film is the third in the ''Kickboxer'' film series with only Sasha Mitchell and Dennis Chan returning from ...
Moon over Parador
''Moon over Parador'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film ''The Magnificent Fraud'', based on the unpublished short story entitled "Caviar for His Excell ...
Sinhá Moça
''Sinhá Moça'' (English title: ''Little Missy'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo. It premiered on March 13, 2006, replacing ''Alma Gêmea'', and ended on October 13, 2006, replaced by ''O Profeta''. It is written ...
Quilombo
A ''quilombo'' (; from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were maroons, a term for e ...
O Bem-Amado
''O Bem-Amado'' is a Brazilian telenovela that first aired on Rede Globo in 1973. It is based on a play by Dias Gomes called ''Odorico, o Bem-Amado ou Os Mistérios do Amor e da Morte'', written in 1962. It was the first Brazilian color telenovela ...
''
* 1972 - ''
Vila Sésamo
''Vila Sésamo'' (formerly known as ''Sésamo'' from 2016 to 2022) is a Brazilian co-production of the first preschool television programme ''Sesame Street''. As of 2009 it airs on TV Rá-Tim-Bum.O Bravo Guerreiro''
* 1960 - ''
Cidade Ameaçada
''Cidade Ameaçada'' is a 1960 Brazilian crime film directed by Roberto Farias. It was submitted into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. The plot follows the story of a São Paulo criminal known as "Passarinho", which is based on an actual criminal ...