Rogéria (Astolfo Barroso Pinto; Cantagalo, 25 June 1943 –

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 ...

, 4 September 2017) was a Brazilian actress, make up artist and

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, best known for her make up artist job on now-defunct ''

TV Rio TV Rio was a Brazilian television station based in the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the state of the same name. It operated on VHF channel 13 and was founded by businessman João Batista do Amaral, its owner between 1955 and 1972. It was par ...

'' and movie roles in '' A Maldição do Sanpaku'', '' Ambitious Women'', and in '.

Life

Rogéria was born in Cantagalo, part of Rio de Janeiro, the same town as another famous figure - as she declared, "In Cantagalo, the biggest queer (''bicha'') in Brazil was born – in this case, me – and the biggest male (''macho'') in Brazil,

Euclides da Cunha Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions ...

". Since her childhood she was aware of her homosexuality. She left home in her teens, starting to work as a cross-dresser in nightclubs and make-up artist for celebrities. Being a '' transformista'' and having a lot of charisma and good humor, she was always applauded by the public, having been a pioneer of

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

in Brazilian television, opening doors for others. She chose not to undergo

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associat ...

and also did not change her baptismal name on her documents. She had lived alone in Rio de Janeiro since the 1960s. In the 1970s she has toured Portuguese Africa (as an international debut) and Spain, then moved to France in 1973 to join the all-cross-dressing

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

Le Carrousel de Paris Le Carrousel de Paris was a Parisian cabaret most famous for its 1950s revues of cross-dressing and trans performers such as Coccinelle. It definitively ceased its dinner-show activity in 2016. History In 1926, near Moulin Rouge, the impresari ...

. A frequent figure in Brazilian cinema, she had also participated as a judge in several variety programs, working with people such as

Chacrinha José Abelardo Barbosa de Medeiros (September 30, 1917 – June 30, 1988), better known as Chacrinha (), was a Brazilian comedian, radio and TV personality. His career was at its peak from 1950 to 1980. He was author of a famous Brazilian phr ...

and Luciano Huck. In 2016, author Marcio Paschoal released a biography of Rogéria. The book was titled ''Rogéria – Uma mulher e mais um pouco''. Rogéria is depicted in the 2016

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Divinas Divas'', directed by

Leandra Leal Leandra Rodrigues Leal Braz e Silva (born 8 September 1982) is a Brazilian actress, singer, film director, producer, and playwright. Biography She is the granddaughter of the cultural producer Américo Leal and daughter of actress Ângela Lea ...

. She is also depicted in the 2018 documentary film ''Rogéria, Senhor Astolfo Barroso Pinto'', directed by Pedro Gui. Rogéria died in

, Brazil from

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

caused by

urinary tract infection A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects a part of the urinary tract. Lower urinary tract infections may involve the bladder (cystitis) or urethra (urethritis) while upper urinary tract infections affect the kidney (pyel ...

on 4 September 2017 at the age of 74.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogeria 1943 births 2017 deaths Brazilian models Brazilian film actors Brazilian television actors Deaths from sepsis Deaths from urinary tract infection Infectious disease deaths in Brazil Brazilian drag queens Brazilian LGBTQ actresses Brazilian LGBTQ models