Ana Zanatti (born 26 June 1949) is a Portuguese theatre, film and television

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, children's book writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and a women's- and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

-rights campaigner.

Early life

Ana Maria Zanatti Olival was born in the Portuguese capital of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

on 26 June 1949. She attended a Catholic school and, later, the historic Pedro Nunes High School, which counts two Portuguese presidents amongst its alumni. She then joined an undergraduate course in

Romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the Faculty of Arts of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

, but left this in 1968 to join the theatre course at the National Conservatory in Lisbon. In the same year she made her theatrical debut at Lisbon's ''

Teatro da Trindade The ''Teatro da Trindade'' is a theatre in the Chiado neighbourhood of Lisbon, Portugal, built in the 19th century. It is one of the oldest theatres in Lisbon still in operation. Construction and opening In 1866, Francisco Pereira Palha de Fari ...

'' with the ''Companhia Nacional de Teatro'', directed by

Ribeirinho Ribeirinho, stage name of Francisco Carlos Lopes Ribeiro (Lisbon, 21 September 1911 – Lisbon, 7 February 1984) was a Portuguese actor and director. He started his career in theatre in 1929, and kept the connection all his life, both as ...

. Also in 1968, she began her film career in the film ''Estrada da Vida'', directed by Henrique Campos.

Career

At the end of the 1960s, Zanatti was invited to be a presenter at RTP, the Portuguese national broadcaster, where she did

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

s for documentaries, presented TV news, hosted competitions, presented programmes about arts and presented five editions of RTP's flagship programme ''Festival da Canção'' (Festival of Song), leading to her winning an award for "Most Popular Presenter" on television. She inaugurated lunchtime broadcasts on RTP in 1970. For 12 years, she was also the institutional voice of '' Canal Odisseia'', a documentary channel. She also participated in the first Portuguese

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, ''Vila Faia'', which began in 1982. Zanatti has made 17 films for the cinema and television, including ''Cântico Final'' (1976), Jesus Franco's controversial '' Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun'' (1977), and ''O Lugar do Morto'' (1984). Her greatest film success was in ''O Lugar do Morto'' ( Dead Man's Seat), directed by

António-Pedro Vasconcelos António-Pedro Saraiva de Barros e Vasconcelos Order of Infante D. Henrique, GCIH (10 March 1939 – 5 March 2024) was a Portuguese film director. Personal life Vasconcelos was the middle of three sons of Guilherme de Barros e Vasconcelos (Celo ...

, one of the most popular films ever made in Portugal. Following a break of six years after her theatrical debut she returned to the theatre in 1975, playing in '' Equus'' by

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is best known for the plays '' Equus'' and '' Amadeus'', the latter of which was adapted for the screen by Miloš Forman, with an ...

at the Teatro Variedades in Lisbon. She then translated the play ''The True Story of Jack the Ripper'', and produced it together with actress Zita Duarte. In all, she performed in 11 plays in Lisbon theatres. In 1984, Zanatti was invited to represent Portugal in a show commemorating the entry of Portugal and Spain into the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, held in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in Strasbourg. In the same year she was one of 25 women chosen to represent Portugal at the EEC's Commission on the Status of Women. In 1988, she co-authored, with

Rosa Lobato de Faria Rosa Lobato de Faria (, Rosa Maria de Bettencourt Rodrigues Lobato de Faria; 20 April 1932 – 2 February 2010) was a Portuguese actress and writer whose career encompassed a variety of media including acting, scriptwriting, literature (novels and ...

, a soap opera, ''Passerelle''. This inspired her to write other television shows, both documentaries and fiction. She also continued to act in soap operas on television and was working on a television film in 2021.

Publications

In 2003 Zanatti published her first novel, ''Os Sinais do Medo'' (The Signs of Fear). This was followed by ''Agradece o Beijo'' (Thanks for the kiss) in 2005 and ''E onde é que está o Amor?'' (And where is the love?). She has also written a trilogy of children's tales and published anthologies. She has been a member of several film juries, including at the Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 2006. In 2009 she made a public presentation at a meeting held to advocate marriage for gay people, where she formally confirmed that she was a lesbian. Her fourth book, ''O sexo inútil'', (Useless Sex) was published in 2016 and addresses LGBT issues. It was the result of letters and emails sent to her by a young woman who asked her for help and with whom she corresponded for year. Zanatti's subsequent research made her realise that many people remain reluctant to reveal their true sexual nature, for fear of upsetting their families or damaging their careers.

Awards

Zanatti has won a number of awards: *1980, 1984, 1986. '' Nova Gente'' trophy. *1980. ''TV Guia'' (TV Guide) prize for most popular presenter *1986. ''Sete de Ouro'' prize for best cinema actress. *1997.

Golden Globes (Portugal) The Golden Globes () are awards given each year in Portugal since 1996 by the Golden Globes Academy, made up by professionals of SIC TV and Caras magazine, which award several areas of art and entertainment in the country, with theatre, spo ...

for best cinema actress *2009. ''Rede Ex Aequo Award''. Rede Ex Aequo is an LGBTI youth association. *2012. ''Prémio Arco-Íris'' (Rainbow prize), in recognition of her contribution to the fight against discrimination and homophobia. This is an award given by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersexual Association (''Associação ILGA Portugal'').

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanatti, Ana 1949 births Living people Portuguese stage actresses 20th-century Portuguese actresses 21st-century Portuguese actresses Portuguese television personalities Portuguese lesbian actresses Portuguese lesbian writers Portuguese children's writers Portuguese people of Italian descent University of Lisbon alumni 21st-century Portuguese LGBTQ people