Breno Mello
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Breno Higino de Mello (September 7, 1931 – July 14, 2008) was a Brazilian athlete and actor. He is primarily known for playing the title role in the 1959 film ''Orfeu Negro'' (''
Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Moraes, ...
'').


Biography

Mello was born in
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
, the capital of
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
, a state of Southern Brazil. In the beginning of his career, Breno Mello was a
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player. He played soccer for Renner,
Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...
, Fluminense, and also for
Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...
, where he met
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
. Mello was walking in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, when director
Marcel Camus Marcel Camus (21 April 1912 – 13 January 1982) was a French film director. He is best known for '' Orfeu Negro'' (''Black Orpheus''), which won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Fi ...
stopped him and asked if he would like to be in a film. Camus cast Mello to star in the classic 1959 film '' Orfeu Negro'' (''Black Orpheus''), in which Mello played the role of Orfeu. Camus was "fascinated" by his physical beauty, which was an essential aspect of the character of Orfeu envisioned by Camus. The film reinterpreted the
Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
myth against the backdrop of the poverty of the Brazilian working class and Brazil's famous Carnaval. The film made extensive use of bossa nova music, including now famous songs such as " A Felicidade" and "
Manhã de Carnaval "Manhã de Carnaval" ("Carnival Morning"), often referred to as "Black Orpheus", is a song by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria. "Manhã de Carnaval" appeared as a principal theme in the 1959 Portuguese-language film ' ...
" (also known as "A Day in the Life of a Fool"), which were sung by the character of Orfeu. While Mello acted the part of Orfeu, his singing voice was dubbed by
Agostinho dos Santos Agostinho dos Santos (April 25, 1932 – July 11, 1973) was a Brazilian singer and composer of bossa nova, MPB and rock and roll, active from the early 1950s until his premature death in the crash of Varig Flight 820 in 1973, at the age of 41. ...
. ''Orfeu'' was the most successful role of Mello's acting career. Reviews of his performance, however, are mixed. Bosley Crowther, reviewing the film for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 1959, criticized his acting, stating: "He performs the role more as a dancer than as an actor trying to show a man in love." On the other hand, Mello's performance has also been described as natural, reflecting real talent. Hollis Alpert, writing for the '' Saturday Review'', called the actors' performances "admirable." Critics agreed that Mello looked the part: the otherwise negative review of Mello in ''The New York Times'' stated that he was "a handsome, virile Orpheus who glistens when covered with sweat." The film won the
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the 1959
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, as well as the 1960
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Foreign Language Film, and the 1960
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
for Best Foreign Film. Mello was not part of the group representing the film for these awards. However, more than 40 years later, Mello attended the Cannes festival at the expense of the Brazilian government, and with the invitation of the producers of the 2005 documentary ''In Search of Black Orpheus'' (''Em Busca do Orfeu negro / À la recherche d'Orfeu Negro'' (Brasil/França, 2005)), by Bernard Tournois and René Letzgus. Mello appeared in several other films, including ''Rata de puerto'' (1963), ''Os Vencidos'' (1963), ''O Santo Módico'' (1964), ''O Negrinho do Pastoreio'' (1973) and ''Prisoner of Rio'' (1988). However, Mello was unable to maintain regular employment as an actor. Shortly before his death, Mello gave his view of why his acting career had not been more successful, saying: "Brazilian cinema at that time didn't have financing. I couldn't support myself with movies, and so, I went back to soccer." O cinema brasileiro não tinha financiamento na época. Não podia me sustentar com o cinema e, por isso, retornei ao futebol."ref name=Guyot /> In 2004, Mello returned to film, appearing in the documentary ''In Search of Black Orpheus'' (in which he portrayed himself) to talk about the impact that the movie ''Black Orpheus'' had on the world of Brazilian music, such as Bossa Nova and
samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...
. However, the filmmakers of this documentary had to search for Mello in order to secure his participation in the film. Mello also lived in
Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as we ...
, Santa Catarina, where he met Amelina Santos Corrêa, also known as Mana. He had his youngest daughter, Letícia, with her. Mello died in his hometown of
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
, Brazil, at the age of 76 years on July 14, 2008, from a heart attack. AFP
Mort de Breno Mello, vedette d'"Orfeu Negro"
. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
His ''Black Orpheus'' co-star, American-born actress Marpessa Dawn, died 42 days later of a heart attack, in
Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. She was 74.


Filmography

* ''Prisoner of Rio'' (1988), Silencio * ''O Negrinho do Pastoreio'' (1973), Negro * ''O Santo Módico'' (1964) * ''San Rata de puerto'' (1963) * ''Os Vencidos'' (1963) * ''Orfeu Negro'' (''
Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Moraes, ...
'') (1959), Orpheus


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mello, Breno 1931 births 2008 deaths People from Porto Alegre Brazilian male actors Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen