Leila Roque Diniz (25 March 1945 – 14 June 1972) was a Brazilian television, film and stage actress, whose liberal ideas and attitudes about sex had raised the discontent of both the

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

and the

Brazilian military government 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 dicta ...

of the 1960s. She died on 14 June 1972, aged 27, at the peak of fame, in the aircraft accident of

Japan Air Lines Flight 471 Japan Air Lines Flight 471 was a Japan Air Lines international flight from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India. On 14 June 1972 the Dou ...

near

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Biography

Born in a

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

family and the daughter of a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist, Leila worked as a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at age 15. At age 17, she met

movie director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

Domingos de Oliveira Domingos José Soares de Oliveira (28 September 1936 – 23 March 2019) was a Brazilian film, stage and television director, playwright, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Born in Rio de Janeiro, de Oliveira graduated in electrical en ...

, with whom she lived until age 21. Between 1962 and 1964 she had minor roles on stage. In 1965, Diniz started working in television, where she made several ''

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

s'' and various

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. In 1967, she also started to make movies. In 1969, she gave an interview to the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

newspaper

O Pasquim ''O Pasquim'' was a Brazilian weekly newspaper published in Rio de Janeiro from 1969 to the mid 1970s. It was critical of the military dictatorship and it is considered the founding periodical of Brazil's alternative press. The idea for the peri ...

during which she said: "It's possible to love one person and go to bed with another. It has happened to me." Due to statements like that and the many

profanities Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, ru ...

(albeit replaced with asterisks) that she said during the interview, the article angered the military, and

Alfredo Buzaid Alfredo Buzaid (20 July 1914 – 10 July 1991) was a Brazilian jurist, lawyer, magistrate and professor. During the military dictatorship he was Minister of Justice in the Emílio Garrastazu Médici government and Minister of the Supreme Court a ...

, Minister of Justice of President

Emílio Garrastazu Médici Emílio Garrastazu Médici (; 4 December 1905 – 9 October 1985) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was the president of Brazil from 1969 to 1974. His authoritarian rule marked the apex of the Brazilian military regime. Early ...

's government, used it as a pretext to decree

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

to all newspapers and magazines in Brazil. The law was known as the "Leila Diniz decree" due to this incident. Diniz had her contract with TV Globo terminated under grounds of "moral problems," but in 1970 she was hired as a juror of TV host

Flávio Cavalcanti Flávio is a Portuguese language given name, equivalent of Latin Flavius, and Italian and Spanish Flavio. The Portuguese diminutive form is Flavinho. People * Flávio da Silva Amado (1979), better known as Flávio, Angolan footballer *Antônio Flá ...

's show on

TV Tupi Rede Tupi (; in English, Tupi Network) was a Brazilian television network free-to-air. Its parent broadcaster, located in the city of São Paulo, was the first TV station to operate in the country, being inaugurated on 18 September 1950 by journ ...

(Cavalcanti, curiously, had a reputation as a "

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

" man, yet he not only hired Diniz, but protected her and hid her in his country house when she was persecuted by the military repressive forces). In 1971, Leila had a short participation as a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

star. In the same year, she married movie director Ruy Guerra, father of her only daughter. She offended the conservative members of society by going to the beach in bikini when six months pregnant, but expressed surprise at the reaction, saying that the doctor just had recommended the sun as beneficial to her pregnancy and her unborn child. In 1972, coming back from a movie festival in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where she won a Best Actress award for the movie ''Mãos Vazias'' ("Empty Hands"), she died in the

crash in

Filmography

*1966: ''

Todas as Mulheres do Mundo ''Todas as Mulheres do Mundo'' is an album by Brazilian singer Rita Lee Rita Lee Jones (; born 31 December 1947) is a Brazilian rock singer, composer and writer. She is a former member of the Brazilian band Os Mutantes and is a popular figur ...

'' - Maria Alice *1967: ''Juego Peligroso'' - Servant (segment "Divertimento") *1967: ''O Mundo Alegre de Helô'' - Luisinha *1967: ''Mineirinho, Vivo ou Morto'' - Maria *1968: ''Edu, Coração de Ouro'' - Tatiana *1968: '' Hunger for Love'' - Ulla *1968: ''O Homem Nu'' - Mariana *1968: ''A Madona de Cedro'' - Marta *1969: ''Os Paqueras'' - herself *1969: ''Corisco, o Diabo Loiro'' - Dadá *1970: ''O Donzelo'' - herself ( cameo) *1970: ''

The Alienist ''The Alienist'' is a crime novel by Caleb Carr first published in 1994 and is the first book in the Kreizler series. It takes place in New York City in 1896, and includes appearances by many famous figures of New York society in that era, inc ...

'' - Eudóxia *1971: ''Mãos Vazias'' - Ida *1972: ''Amor, Carnaval e Sonhos'' *1977: ''O Dia Marcado'' - (final film role)

About her

*1987: ''Leila Diniz'' (with

Louise Cardoso Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...

)

References

''This article incorporates information from the revision as of 24 November 2014 of the equivalent articles on the Portuguese Wikipedia.''

External links

*
Leila Diniz
(in Portuguese)

(in Portuguese)
Leila Diniz (1945-1972)
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Diniz, Leila 1945 births 1972 deaths People from Niterói Brazilian film actresses Brazilian stage actresses Brazilian telenovela actresses Brazilian educators 20th-century Brazilian actresses Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1972