Ruth Pinto de Souza (May 12, 1921 – July 28, 2019) was a Brazilian actress.

Biography

As a member of the Black Experimental Theater (''Teatro Experimental do Negro,'' TEN), she is one of the first Black actresses in dramatic theater in Brazil and one of the first to perform at the Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. The Black Experimental Theater was created in 1944 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to combat racism and create opportunities for Black talent in theater. Along with other

Afro-Brazilians Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

women, Ruth participated in the premiere performance of TEN as a member of the chorus and later played the Native Woman, the only female character in

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

's play '' The Emperor Jones''. She was awarded with Prêmio Saci. She died in Rio de Janeiro in the neighbourhood of Copacabana in July 2019 at the age of 98.

Tribute

On May 12, 2021,

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celebrated her 100th birthday with a

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. Ruth de Souza was portrayed by Eli Ferreira in the 2024 Brazilian telenovela '' Garota do Momento''.

Ruth de Souza Awards

In 2019 the Black Community Council, managed by the government of the

São Paulo state SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

, gave awards to prominent figures of the state's black community in honor of Ruth de Souza. Paula Beatriz, the first transgender woman to direct a state school, was among the laureates.

Selected filmography

* ''Terra Violenta'' (1948) * ''Falta Alguém no Manicômio'' (1948) as Júlia * ''Também Somos Irmãos'' (1949) as Rosália * ''A Sombra da Outra'' (1950) * ''Terra É Sempre Terra'' (1951) as Bastiana * ''Ângela'' (1951) * '' The Landowner's Daughter'' (1953) as Sabina * ''Candinho'' (1954) as Manuela * '' Who Killed Anabela?'' (1956) * ''Osso, Amor e Papagaio'' (1957) * ''Ravina'' (1958) * ''Fronteiras do Inferno'' (1959) * '' Macumba Love'' (1960) as Mama Rata-loi * ''

A Morte Comanda o Cangaço ''A Morte Comanda o Cangaço'' is a 1960 Brazilian Western action film directed and co-written by Carlos Coimbra and Walter Guimarães Motta. Shot in Pernambuco, it stars Alberto Ruschel, Aurora Duarte, and Milton Ribeiro in a fiction about ' ...

'' (1960) as Praying Woman * ''Bruma Seca'' (1960) * ''Favela'' (1961) * ''O Assalto ao Trem Pagador'' (1962) as Judith * ''Gimba, Presidente dos Valentes'' (1963) as Chica Maluca * ''O Cabeleira'' (1963) * ''As Cariocas'' (1966) (segment "Roberto Santos") * ''O Homem Nu'' (1968) * '' O Bem-Amado'' (1973, TV Series) as Chiquinha do Parto * ''Um Homem Célebre'' (1974) * ''Pureza Proibida'' (1974) * ''Pontal da Solidão'' (1974) as Narrator * ''Ana, a Libertina'' (1975) * ''Quem Matou Pacífico?'' (1977) * ''Ladrões de Cinema'' (1977) * ''Fruto do Amor'' (1981) as Dra. Elza * '' Jubiabá'' (1986) * '' A Grande Arte'' (1991) as Old Woman Kissing (uncredited) * ''Boca'' (1994) as Mrs. Esteban * '' A Glass of Rage'' (1999) * ''Aleijadinho - Paixão, Glória e Suplício'' (2000) as Joana Lopes * '' O Clone'' (2001, TV Series) as Dona Mocinha da Silva * ''Filhas do Vento'' (2004) as Maria Aparecida (Cida) * ''Em Quadro'' (2009) * ''O Vendedor de Passados'' (2015) as Dona Célia * ''Primavera'' (2018) as Josephina / Matilda / Madre Amélia * ''Se Eu Fechar Os Olhos Agora'' (2019) as Madalena dos Santos

References

External links

* 1921 births 2019 deaths Actresses from Rio de Janeiro (city) Afro-Brazilian people Brazilian television actresses Brazilian telenovela actresses Brazilian film actresses Afro-Brazilian actresses Brazilian stage actresses 20th-century Brazilian actresses 21st-century Brazilian actresses {{Brazil-actor-stub