Alda Garrido

Alda Garrido was born in 1896, in São Paulo. She graduated from the School of Dramatic Arts of São Paulo, and was a playwright for more than 50 years. She was the sister of the actor Cláudio Mamberti. She started her artistic career in theater, joining the Teatro de Equipe, a group of young actors that included Paulo César Pereio, Lilian Lemmertz, Ítala Nandi and Fernando Peixoto. She later became part of the Teatro de Arena, a revolutionary theater company that staged socially relevant plays by Brazilian authors, such as Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, Augusto Boal and Oduvaldo Vianna Filho. She also worked as a director and writer, adapting works by Brecht, Maquiavel and Molière. She made her film debut in 1965, in the classic O Padre e a Moça, directed by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, playing the role of a young priest who falls in love with a girl in a rural town. She went on to star in many other films, such as Todas as Mulheres do Mundo, Macunaíma, O Homem Nu, O Palhaço and A Hora e a Vez de Augusto Matraga. She won several awards for her film work, including the Kikito de Ouro at the Gramado Film Festival and the Candango Trophy at the Brasília Film Festival. She also had a prolific career in television, working in many telenovelas, miniseries and humor programs. She debuted in 1969, in Véu de Noiva, written by Janete Clair. She became famous for her roles as Samuca in Assim na Terra Como no Céu, Shazan in O Primeiro Amor and Shazan, Xerife e Cia., and Odorico Paraguaçu in O Bem Amado, all written by Dias Gomes. She also participated in other successful shows, such as O Casarão, Roda de Fogo, O Tempo e o Vento, Armação Ilimitada, Roque Santeiro, Rainha da Sucata, Deus nos Acuda and Por Amor. She received many honors for her television work, such as the Troféu Imprensa, the Prêmio Contigo and the Prêmio Extra de Televisão. She was married to Américo Garrido, one of the most important actors in Brazilian theater, with whom she lived for fifty years until his death in 1970. They had an adopted daughter, Maria Clara, who became a singer. She died in 1970, at the age of 74, of natural causes. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the sea, as she wished. She is regarded as one of the greatest and most versatile artists in Brazilian history, and an inspiration for many generations of artists. ¹²