Maria Gladys

Maria Gladys Mello da Silva (Portuguese: [maˈriɐ ˈglad͡ʒiz ˈmɛlu da ˈsiwvɐ]; born 23 November 1939) is a Brazilian actress. Gladys made her acting debut in 1959 with Arthur Azevedo's play "O Mambembe" at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro. She earned recognition in the theater world by appearing topless in the publicity poster for the play "O Chão dos Penitentes". She's considered the mother of marginal cinema.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Mello and the second or paternal family name is da Silva.

Maria Gladys
Born	Maria Gladys Mello da Silva (1939-11-23) 23 November 1939 (age 85) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1959–present
Relatives	Mia Goth (granddaughter)

Biography

Gladys was born in the Cachambi neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At three, she contracted polio, and at fifteen, became pregnant. She then moved with her family to the Grajaú neighbourhood, where she gave birth to her first son, Glayson; his father soon vanished. In Grajaú, Gladys met notable figures like Erasmo Carlos, Carlos Imperial, Tim Maia and Roberto Carlos, whom she started dating. During this period, she became one of the official dancers on the TV show "Clube do Rock", created by Carlos Imperial.

In the late 1950s, Gladys pursued acting and moved with her family to Copacabana, in Rio's south zone. She made her theatrical debut in 1959 with Arthur Azevedo's play "O Mambembe" at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, performing alongside Fernanda Montenegro, Fernando Torres, Sérgio Britto and Ítalo Rossi. Concurrently, while training as an actress, Gladys joined the Teatro Jovem company. She made waves in the theater world by appearing topless in the publicity poster for the play "O Chão dos Penitentes", becoming the first serious actress in Brazil to display her body publicly. In 1962, she starred in the play "Sétimo Céu", directed by her friend Domingos de Oliveira.

Being part of the resistance during the Brazilian dictatorship led Gladys to exile in London between 1965 and 1979. In 1973, Gladys met american artist Lee Jaffe in London, and forty years later, it was revealed that he was the father of Rachel. Rachel is the mother of the movie star Mia Goth, making Jaffe her grandfather.^[1]

Later, Gladys lived with Betty Faria and shared a house in Vidigal with Leila Diniz. Following her mother's death and her father's return to the suburbs to care for his grandson, Gladys starred in Ruy Guerra's 1964 film "Os Fuzis", which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear.

On television, she appeared in significant productions like "Brilhante", "Bandidos da Falange", "As Noivas de Copacabana", "Hilda Furacão", "Um Anjo Caiu do Céu", "A Lua Me Disse" and "Aquele Beijo". Her most iconic role, however, was Lucimar da Silva in "Vale Tudo".

In 2016, she portrayed Dr. Elizabeth Tacanha in the TV Globo series "Pé na Cova".

Filmography

Film

Long and short films
Year	Title	Role
1961	Por um Céu de Liberdade	Nurse
1963	Bonitinha, mas Ordinária	Sister of Rita
1964	Os Fuzis	Luísa
1965	Canalha em Crise	—
1966	Um Diamante e Cinco Balas	Flôr
	Todas as Mulheres do Mundo	Glorinha[2]
1968	Copacabana Me Engana	—
	Edu, Coração de Ouro	Neusinha
	Como Vai, Vai Bem?	Teresa
1969	O Anjo Nasceu	—
1970	Cuidado Madame	[3]
	Sem Essa, Aranha	—
	É Simonal!	—
	Meu Pé de Laranja Lima	Professor Cecília
	A Família do Barulho[4]	—
1971	Sangue Quente em Tarde Fria	—
	O Donzelo	—
	O Capitão Bandeira contra o Dr. Moura Brasil	Gladys
	Piranhas do Asfalto	—
	Lúcia McCartney, uma Garota de Programa	—
	Mangue Bangue[5]	—
1976	Bandalheira Infernal[6]	—
1977	Anchieta, José do Brasil	Timbaúba
1978	O Gigante da América	—
	Agonia[7]	—
1982	Rio Babilônia	[8]
1983	Bar Esperança	Martha[9]
1985	Brás Cubas	—
	Os Bons Tempos Voltaram: Vamos Gozar Outra Vez	Alzira
	Um Filme 100% Brasileiro	—
1987	O Bebê[10]	—
1988	Natal da Portela	—
1990	Guns[11]	Uncredited
1991	A Grande Arte	Woman Under Billboards[12]
	Matou a Família e Foi ao Cinema	Mother of Bebeto
1992	As Noivas de Copacabana - O Filme[13]	Rita
1994	Geraldo Voador	—
1995	O Monge e a Filha do Carrasco	—
2001	A Breve Estória de Cândido Sampaio	—
2003	Apolônio Brasil, Campeão da Alegria	—
2006	Se Eu Fosse Você	Cida
2007	Polaroides Urbanas	—
	Meu Nome é Dindi[14]	Dona Carmen
2008	Pequenas Histórias	Dona Hanna[15]
	Casa da Mãe Joana[16]	Party Drunk
2009	Se Eu Fosse Você 2	Cida
2010	The Joy[17]	Luiza's Aunt
2011	Rat Fever[18]	Stella Maris
2013	Cute, But Ordinary[19]	Ritinha's Sisters (uncredited)
2015	All of God's Creations[20]	DaGuia - Miguel's Mother
2017	Duas de Mim[21]	Sonja

Television

Novels, Series and Minisseries
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Plantão de Polícia[22]	—	(episode:O Estrangulador da Praça Tiradentes)
1981	Brilhante	Dinalva
1983	Bandidos da Falange	Soninha
1984	Padre Cícero	Ifigênia
1985	Grande Sertão: Veredas	Maria do Padre
1988	Vale Tudo	Lucimar da Silva
	Chapadão do Bugre[23]	—
1989	Top Model	Veridiana (Big Loira)
	Delegacia de Mulheres[24]	Detetive Alvarenga	4 episodes
1990	Meu Bem, Meu Mal	Eusébia
1992	As Noivas de Copacabana	Rita de Cássia
	Tereza Batista[25]	Felipa
1993	Fera Ferida	Lucineide
1995 - 1999	Você Decide[26]	Aurora, Maria, Cândida, Eleutéria	5 episodes
1996	Salsa e Merengue	Neném
1998	Corpo Dourado	Mazinha
	Hilda Furacão	Cecília Bonfim
	Mulher[27]	Rita	(episode: Desejos Incontroláveis)
2001	Um Anjo Caiu do Céu	Zezé
2002	O Beijo do Vampiro	Gracinda
2004	Senhora do Destino	Dona Mimi
2005	A Lua Me Disse	Naíde
2006	A Diarista, Números Primos	Aunt Palmira
	Sítio do Picapau Amarelo	Fátima	2 episodes
	Prova de Amor	Mother of de Elza	Special participation
2007	Guerra e Paz	Zoraide
2008	Negócio da China	Lucivone
	Beleza Pura	Romena
2009	Toma Lá, Dá Cá	Sundaí	1 episode
	Caminho das Índias	Glorinha	Special participation
2010	A Vida Alheia	Nadir	1 episode
2011	Aquele Beijo	Eveva
2014	As Canalhas	Luciene
	Sexo e as Negas	Fumaça
2016	Pé na Cova	Dra. Elizabeth Tacanha