João Nicolau de Melo Breyner Moreira Lopes GOIH GOM (30 July 1940 – 14 March 2016), better known as Nicolau Breyner, was a Portuguese

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, producer,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

. He was one of the most well-known figures in Portuguese television and cinema, having performed in more than 170 films and television series in his career.

Early life

Nicolau Breyner was born in

Serpa Serpa () is a city and a Concelho (municipality) in the central Portuguese region Alentejo. The population in 2011 was 15,623, in an area of . The Guadiana River flows close to the town of Serpa. History Serpa has its origins in early settlem ...

, Portugal, on 30 July 1940. His parents were Nicolau Moreira Lopes (1915–1965) and Augusta Pereira da Silva de Melo Breyner Pereira (1920–2003). Breyner and his family moved to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

when he was 9 years old. There he studied at the

Camões Secondary School The Secondary School Luís de Camões ( pt, Escola Secundária Luís de Camões) is a secondary school located in the civil parish of Arroios, in the municipality and Portuguese capital of Lisbon, classified as a ''Monumento de Interesse Público ...

. He studied

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and was part of the Portuguese Musical Youth chorus. He first enrolled in a

Law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

but later switched to vocal studies at the Conservatório Nacional. He initially pursued

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singing, but opted for

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

after finding that he did not have the discipline required for opera.

Career

Breyner's acting debut in theater was in the play ''Leonor Telles'' by Marcelino Mesquita.

Personal life

Breyner's first marriage was to Mafalda Maria de Alpoim Vieira Barbosa. His second marriage was to the Portuguese actress Sofia Sá da Bandeira, between 1996 and 2001. He had two daughters, Mariana and Constança Fidalgo Ramos de Melo Breyner Lopes, from a previous relationship with Cláudia Fidalgo. His third wife was Mafalda Gomes de Amorim Bessa. Breyner was a second cousin of Portuguese author

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (6 November 1919 – 2 July 2004) was a Portuguese poet and writer. Her remains have been entombed in the National Pantheon since 2014. Life and career Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was born on 6 November ...

Death

Breyner died in Lisbon from a cardiac arrest on 14 March 2016, aged 75. His body was cremated at the

Alto de São João Cemetery Alto de São João Cemetery (Portuguese: ''Cemitério do Alto de São João'') is the largest cemetery in Lisbon, Portugal, located in the ''freguesia'' (civil parish) of Penha de França, in eastern Lisbon (formerly, within the parish of São J ...

in Lisbon.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* 1940 births 2016 deaths Portuguese male film actors 20th-century Portuguese dramatists and playwrights People from Serpa Portuguese people of German descent 20th-century Portuguese male actors 20th-century Portuguese male writers 21st-century Portuguese male actors Portuguese male dramatists and playwrights {{Portugal-actor-stub