Montenegro, Fernanda

Montenegro, Fernanda
▪ 2000

      In 1999, one year after winning the Berlin International Film Festival's award for best actress for her performance in Central do Brasil (1998; Central Station), Fernanda Montenegro continued to find acclaim outside her native Brazil, garnering an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her work in the same film. It was the first time that a Brazilian actress had been so nominated. Critics praised Montenegro's portrayal of Dora, an embittered retired schoolteacher in Rio de Janeiro who ekes out a living writing letters for illiterate people and who finds redemption after she decides to help a homeless boy search for his father. The actress revealed that she modeled her performance on a beloved primary schoolteacher named Carmosina Campos de Meneses, believing that within every “hardened, miserable Dora” there is a Carmosina awaiting her chance to escape tragedy and desperation.

      Although she was little known in Europe or Anglo-America prior to appearing in Central do Brasil, Montenegro was a grande dame of the Brazilian stage whose career had spanned nearly half a century. She was born Arlette Pinheiro Esteves da Silva in 1929 in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Jacarepaguá and made her theatrical debut in 1950 alongside actor Fernando Torres, whom she married three years later. In 1959 she and Torres established their own theatre company, producing and acting in Portuguese-language productions of numerous works by such playwrights as Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, and Arthur Miller.

      Beginning in the early 1960s, Montenegro also performed in motion pictures and on television. Among her dozen films were A falecida (1965; “The Deceased Woman”); Eles não usam Black-Tie (1981; “They Don't Use Black Tie”), about family relations and labour unrest; and the three-part Traição (1997; “Betrayal”), which examined adultery. Her television credits included a number of soap operas, in which she was usually typecast as an “elegant, well-dressed magnate's wife who lives in a big mansion.” In the television serial Rainha da sucata (1990; “The Queen of Scrap Iron”), a lampoon of soaps that was dubbed into Spanish and distributed throughout the Americas, she took on a self-effacing role as the matriarch of a quarreling family. An astonishingly versatile actress, she was respected for treating even the smallest of roles with consummate professionalism.

      Despite her success in Central do Brasil, Montenegro's primary interest remained the theatre. In 1999 she kept up her busy acting schedule, appearing in stage productions of plays by Anton Chekhov and Luigi Pirandello.

Stephen P. Davis

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fernanda Montenegro — (* 16. Oktober 1929 in Rio de Janeiro) ist eine brasilianische Schauspielerin. Montenegro gilt als die große Dame des brasilianischen Kinos und Fernsehens. Sie wurde weltweit durch den Film Cent …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fernanda Montenegro — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Fernanda Montenegro Nombre real Arlette Pinheiro Esteves da Silva Nacimiento 16 de Octubre, 1929 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Fernanda Montenegro — Arlete Pinheiro Esteves da Silva, connue sous le nom de Fernanda Montenegro (née le 16 octobre 1929 à Rio de Janeiro, Brésil) est une actrice brésilienne. Ours d argent de la meilleure actrice pour son interprétation dans Ce …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fernanda — ist ein weiblicher Vorname. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Herkunft und Bedeutung 2 Bekannte Namensträger 2.1 Zweitname 3 Sonstiges …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Montenegro (disambiguation) — Montenegro is a name that means black mountain in many Romance languages. Montenegro (country) Montenegro (Crna Gora), a country on the Adriatic coast of the Mediterranean Sea Republic of Montenegro (federal), a federal unit of Federal Republic… …   Wikipedia

  • Fernanda Torres — (2011) Fernanda Torres (* 15. September 1965 in Rio de Janeiro) ist eine brasilianische Schauspielerin. Fernanda Torres ist die Tochter der oscarnominierten Schauspielerin Fernanda Montenegro und des Filmregisseurs Fernando Torres. Sie ist… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Montenegro (Begriffsklärung) — Montenegro bezeichnet in der Geografie: Montenegro, ein Staat in Südosteuropa Fürstentum Montenegro, ein ehemaliges Fürstentum in Südosteuropa Königreich Montenegro, ein ehemaliges Königreich in Südosteuropa Montenegro (Brasilien), eine Stadt in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fernanda Montenegro — Infobox actor imagesize = caption = birthname = Arlete Pinheiro Esteves da Silva birthdate = birth date and age|mf=yes|1929|10|16 birthplace = Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil othername = yearsactive = 1955 present spouse = Fernando Torres… …   Wikipedia

  • Fernanda Torres — Infobox Actor name = Fernanda Torres birthname = Fernanda Pinheiro Monteiro Torres birthdate = birth date and age|1966|9|15 birthplace = Rio de Janeiro, Brazil spouse = Gerald Thomas Andrucha Waddington awards = Best Actress Award (Cannes Film… …   Wikipedia

  • Luisa Fernanda — For the Torroba s zarzuela, see Luisa Fernanda (zarzuela). Luisa Fernanda Lozano (born c. 1970) is a Mexican television entertainment news anchor who worked for Telemundo until the end of 2007, she currently co animates a talk show for Univision… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”