Norma Blum (born 1939) is a television, theatre and film actress and television presenter. She also works as a motivational therapist, having published several books.
Early life
Norma de Lacerda Blum was born 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 ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
on 11 October 1939. She first worked in 1951, at the age of twelve, on the now defunct ''
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 ...
'' as script assistant to her father, who was responsible for translating texts to be transformed into television programmes. In 1954, she joined the permanent staff of ''TV Tupi'' actors, participating in several programmes, such as ''Teatro de Comédia'', led by Maurício Sherman, ''Grande Teatro Tupi'', directed by
Sérgio Britto
Sérgio Britto (, born Sérgio de Britto Álvares Affonso(September 18, 1959) is a Brazilian musician, best known as a member of the rock band Titãs, for which he contributes with lead vocals, keyboards and, more recently, the bass guitar. He ha ...
and
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...
, and ''Teatrinho Troll'', by Fábio Sabag. She was also in the cast of soap operas, such as ''A Canção de Bernadete'' (Bernadette's song), in the role of
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...
. In addition to ''TV Tupi'', Blum worked for ''
TV Excelsior
Rede Excelsior was a Brazilian television network founded by Mário Wallace Simonsen on July 9, 1960, in São Paulo, São Paulo. Its last broadcast happened on September 30, 1970, when the Brazilian military dictatorship put an abrupt end to ...
'', ''TV Rio'' and ''TV Continental''. In 1957, she participated in the New York Herald Tribune World Youth Forum
and took part in a television show on the
public broadcaster
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
, ''
WNET
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
'', in which she revealed that she spoke eight languages.
''TV Globo''
In 1964 Blum was invited to join the new ''
TV Globo
TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV station ...
'' network. In her first job, she participated in the program ''Romance na Tarde'', where she presented films and conducted interviews with actors and singers. She also participated in shows featuring
Dercy Gonçalves
Dolores Gonçalves Costa (23 June 1905 – 19 July 2008), known by her stage name Dercy Gonçalves, was a Brazilian actress, comedian and singer. In her 86-year-long career, she worked in the theater, revues, film, radio and television, becoming ...
and
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s, such as ''A Gata de Mink'' in 1968. Along with Hilton Gomes, she led the presentation of Brazil's Festival Internacional da Canção (International Song Festival) in 1968 and in 1969. In 1975 she returned to ''TV Globo'' and starred in the soap opera, ''Senhora'', written by
Gilberto Braga
Gilberto Tumscitz Braga (November 1, 1945 – October 26, 2021) was a Brazilian screenwriter.
Biography
Braga was born in Rio de Janeiro, on November 1, 1945. He studied at the Instituto de Educação and the Colégio Pedro II. He studied at t ...
and directed by
Herval Rossano
Herval Abreu Pais (April 23, 1935 – May 8, 2007), better known by his stage name Herval Rossano, was a Brazilian TV actor and director from Campos dos Goytacazes. He directed both Escrava Isaura (1976 telenovela), the original 1976 version and ...
. She was subsequently in the cast of many ''TV Globo'' soap operas such as ''
Bravo!
CTV Drama Channel (formerly known as Bravo) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media.
The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the U.S. channel Bravo (which is now owned by NBCUniversal) on January 1, 1995 b ...
'', in 1975; ''
Elas por Elas
''Elas por Elas'' was a 1982 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 genre ...
'', in 1982; ''
Sinhá Moça
''Sinhá Moça'' (English title: ''Little Missy'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo. It premiered on March 13, 2006, replacing ''Alma Gêmea'', and ended on October 13, 2006, replaced by ''O Profeta''. It is written ...
'' (Little Missy), in 1986; and ''Lua Cheia de Amor'' (Moon full of love) in 1990. Her most famous soap opera roles were as Malvina, in ''
Escrava Isaura'' (Slave girl Isaura), in 1976, and as Frau Herta in ''
Ciranda de Pedra'', in 1981.
[
]
Resumption of career
In 1992, Blum decided to retire for health reasons. However, she resumed her career in 2003 in ''Pícara Sonhadora
''Pícara Sonhadora'' (''The Mischievous Dreamer'') is a Brazilian telenovela that was produced and aired by SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Na ...
'' (The Mischievous Dreamer), an ''SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, t ...
'' production. In 2004 she appeared in a remake of ''Escrava Isaura''. In 2011, she joined the cast of the soap opera by Gilberto Braga, ''Insensato Coração
''Insensato Coração'' (''Irrational Heart'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Globo that first premiered 17 January 2011, replacing '' Passione'' and ended on 19 August 2011, followed by ''Fina Estampa''. It is created and wri ...
'' (Irrational Heart), on ''TV Globo''. In addition to her television work, Blum appeared in 17 plays, between 1959 and 2003 and 17 films between 1956 and 2017. In 2020 she was working on a film about four 80-year-old women who had been schoolmates, when filming was interrupted by 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 ...
.[
]
Work as a therapist
Blum has worked in the area of self-transformation for several decades, giving motivational talks and participating in workshops. Her first publication on the topic was a self-help guide using Neuro-linguistic programming
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a pseudoscientific approach to communication, personal development and psychotherapy, that first appeared in Richard Bandler and John Grinder's 1975 book ''The Structure of Magic I''. NLP claims that th ...
(NLP) techniques. This was followed by two pocketbooks designed to be used on a daily basis, and three stories for children.
Autobiography
In 2010, Blum published an autobiography, entitled ''Muitas Vidas: Vida e Carreira de Norma Blum'' (Many lives: Life and Career of Norma Blum).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blum, Norma
1939 births
Living people
20th-century Brazilian actresses
21st-century Brazilian actresses
People from Rio de Janeiro (city)
Brazilian television actresses
Brazilian film actresses
Brazilian stage actresses