Maria João Gonçalves Abreu Soares ( Lisboa, 14 April 1964 –

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population in 2011 was 174,030, in a ...

, 13 May 2021), known as Maria João Abreu, was a Portuguese film, television and stage actress. Her most notable works include Portuguese TV series ''Médico de Família, Aqui Não Há Quem Viva, Golpe de Sorte,'' and her strong presence in the typical Portuguese genre of " teatro de revista". She was famous for her uplifting roles, mostly associated with humour.

Biography

Maria João Abreu was born in Lisboa on 14 April 1964. Between 1985 and 2008, she was married to fellow actor José Raposo, with whom she had two sons: Miguel Raposo and Ricardo Raposo. Despite the divorce, the two willingly worked together in several productions and remained good friends. She married musician João Soares in September 2012. In November 2020, she tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but recovered. Her father, who already had lung cancer, died of the disease. On 30 April 2021, after fainting during the recording of episodes of the Portuguese telenovela '' A Serra'', she was admitted to Hospital Garcia de Orta, in

, where she was diagnosed with a ruptured

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circul ...

and put into an induced coma. After multiple surgeries and complications, Abreu died on 13 May 2021, aged 57.

Television

Cinema

* '' Amo-te Teresa'' (2000), by Ricardo Espírito Santo and Cristina Boavida * '' Telefona-me!'' (2000), by Frederico Corado * '' Call Girl'' (2007), by António-Pedro Vasconcelos * '' A Mãe é que Sabe'' (2016), by Nuno Rocha * Submissão (2019), by Leonardo António

References

20th-century Portuguese actresses Portuguese stage actresses Portuguese television actresses Portuguese film actresses 1964 births 2021 deaths Actresses from Lisbon Neurological disease deaths in Portugal Deaths from intracranial aneurysm {{Portugal-actor-stub