Maria Ruth dos Santos Escobar, known professionally as Ruth Escobar (March 31, 1935 – October 5, 2017) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian film and television actress, businesswoman, and politician. A prominent icon in

Brazilian theater Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may al ...

, Escobar was one of the country's leading cultural producers and activists for the arts.

Biography

Escobar was born in Porto, Portugal, on March 31, 1935. She emigrated from Portugal to Brazil in 1951, settled in São Paulo, and married , a philosopher, poet and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. She then studied acting in Paris, France, and then returned to São Paulo, where she founded her own theater company called Novo Teatro. She founded another theater, now known as the

Teatro Ruth Escobar Teatro Ruth Escobar is a theatre in São Paulo, Brazil. It is named for the actress, Ruth Escobar Maria Ruth dos Santos Escobar, known professionally as Ruth Escobar (March 31, 1935 – October 5, 2017) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian film and t ...

, in São Paulo in 1964. It became a center of avant-garde art throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Her productions included '' The Threepenny Opera'' and the '' Entertaining Mr Sloane''. In 1974, Escobar founded the first Festival Internacional de Teatro (''International Festival of Theater'') to bring world theater productions to Brazil. She successfully brought numerous international productions and actors to São Paulo for the festivals, including the productions of Bob Wilson's ''Time and Life of Joseph Stalin'' and Victor Garcia's ''Yerma''. Escobar also brought the Catalan group Els Joglars, the Hamada Zenia Gekijo company of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, City Players of Iran, and Grupo G.Belli of Italy to Brazil for the festivals. During the 1980s, Ruth Escobar left the theater to focus on politics and community affairs. She was twice elected to the

Legislative Assembly of São Paulo The Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa do Estado de São Paulo) is the unicameral legislative branch of São Paulo (state), São Paulo state in Brazil. The building where the legislative assembly is loca ...

for two terms in 1983 and 1987, where she focused on community and cultural projects. In 1987, Escobar released her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, "Maria Ruth-Uma Autobiografia", and returned to the theater. She appeared in a film 'Romance' in 1988 and in ''Relações Perigosas'' in 1990. Escobar's film roles included the historical drama, ''

The Jew ''The Jew'' is a comedy written by playwright Richard Cumberland and first presented at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in May 1794. The play is notable as the first play in the English theatre to portray a Jewish moneylender as the hero of a ...

'', in 1996. Ruth Escobar died in São Paulo, Brazil, on October 5, 2017, at the age of 81. She had been hospitalized in the city's Hospital Nove de Julho at the time of her death. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escobar, Ruth 1935 births 2017 deaths Brazilian film actresses Brazilian stage actresses Brazilian television actresses Members of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo Portuguese emigrants to Brazil People from Porto Actresses from São Paulo