Elke Maravilha ( Grünupp;Biografia desconstrói mitos que Elke Maravilha criou ao longo da vida
Folha de S. Paulo, Leonardo Sanchez (in Portuguese). 22 February 1945 – 16 August 2016) was a German-Brazilian actress, model and television personality. She lived in Brazil from her early childhood until her death.

Biography

Maravilha was born in Leutkirch. At the age of six, her family emigrated to Brazil and first settled at a farm in

Itabira Itabira is a Brazilian municipality and a major city in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area mesoregion and to the Itabira microregion. It is currently the twenty-fourth largest city in the state in ...

in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. In 1955, her family leased lands in

Atibaia Atibaia (or ''Estância de Atibaia'') is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The name is derived from an indigenous language called Tupi, and means "healthy water river". Its name has changed over time, from the primitive ...

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 * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

, running a strawberry farm. The family then went to

Bragança Paulista Bragança Paulista is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 170,533 (2020 est.) in an area of 512.6 km². The elevation is 817 m. The city is famous for its traditional sausages, with several establishments c ...

to farm. Returning to Minas Gerais, she was chosen as "Glamour Girl" in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

in 1962. It was during this period that she became a naturalized Brazilian. At the age of 20, Maravilha left home to live in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, working as a bilingual secretary, using her fluency in eight languages, many of them learned in her own home environment, as a teacher of French and English. Her father became director of Liquigás corporation and was transferred to

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

. She returned to live with her family in Porto Alegre between 1966 and 1969, where she attended courses at the

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul ( pt, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated univers ...

faculties of philosophy, medicine and letters and trained as a translator and interpreter of foreign languages. She took up modeling work at age 24, in 1969, in the same period in which she married a Greek writer, Alexandros Evremidis, the first of her eight marriages. During this time, she began a friendship with the fashion designer

Zuzu Angel SNI document on Stuart, 1971 Zuleika Angel Jones (June 5, 1921 – April 14, 1976), better known as Zuzu Angel, was a Brazilian-American fashion designer, who became famous for opposing the Brazilian military dictatorship after the forced ...

. During the

Brazilian military dictatorship The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dict ...

in 1971, Maravilha was arrested for contempt at

Santos Dumont Airport Santos Dumont Airport is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932). It is operated by Infraero. Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operatin ...

in Rio de Janeiro for tearing up posters of Stuart Angel Jones, her friend Zuzu's son, claiming that he had already been killed by the regime. She was arrested under the National Security Law and lost her Brazilian citizenship. She was released after six days, following the appeals of artist friends. Years later, she successfully applied for German citizenship.

Film portrayals

She was portrayed by

Luana Piovani Luana Elídia Afonso Piovani (, born 29 August 1976) is a Brazilian actress, TV host, and former model. Career Piovani started her career as a Ford Models Agency model in 1990 and a year later spent some time working in Japan. Piovani's first ...

in the 2006 biographical drama film ''

''. Maravilha also made a special guest appearance in the film. She was also portrayed by

Gianne Albertoni Gianne Albertoni Vicente (born 5 July 1981) is a Brazilian model, actress and television presenter. Biography Albertoni was born in São Paulo, Brazil. She was discovered 1993 when she was 13 years old, by a Brazilian multimedia artist and ...

in ''Chacrinha: O velho guerreiro'', a 2018 film biography about

Chacrinha José Abelardo Barbosa de Medeiros (September 30, 1917 – June 30, 1988), better known as Chacrinha (), was a Brazilian comedian, radio and TV personality. His career was at its peak from 1950 to 1980. He was author of a famous Brazilian phra ...

Death

Maravilha died in Rio de Janeiro on 16 August 2016 of multiple organ failure, from complications of a surgery to treat an ulcer.

Work

Television

Film

Stage

* ''Paixão de Cristo'' * ''Elke – do Sagrado ao Profano'' * ''Viva o Cordão Encarnado'' * ''O Castelo das Sete Torres'' * ''Rio de Cabo a Rabo'' * ''Eu Gosto de Mamãe'' * ''Carlota Joaquina'' * ''A Rainha Morta'' * ''O Homem e o Cavalo'' * '' Orfeu da Conceição'' * ''O Lobo da Madrugada''

Music

Maravilha recorded the song "Que vontade de comer goiaba", available in the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Dançando em duplo sentido''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maravilha, Elke 1945 births 2016 deaths People from Leutkirch im Allgäu German actresses Brazilian actresses German emigrants to Brazil People who lost Brazilian citizenship