Rubens de Falco da Costa (October 19, 1931 – August 22, 2008) was a Brazilian actor best known for his work in

telenovelas 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'' (P ...

, specifically his portrayal as a slave owner in the 1976 telenovela, '' Escrava Isaura'' (''The Slave Isaura'') and the 1986 telenovela ''

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 writt ...

'' (''Little Missy'').

Career

De Falco was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

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 October 19, 1931. He began his acting career in the local

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually 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 perform ...

. In 1955, he joined the group "''Os Jograis''", of São Paulo, and performed beside such actors as Ruy Afonso, Italo Rossi and Felipe Wagner. He made his cinema debut in 1952 in the film '' Apassionata'', for the Cinematographic Company Vera Cruz. In television, he had prominence parts in telenovelas such as '' O Rei dos Ciganos'' (1967), '' A Rainha Louca'' (1967), ''

O Passo dos Ventos O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...

'' (1968), ''

Gabriela Gabriela may refer to: * Gabriela (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian feminine given name * ''Gabriela'' (1942 film), a Czech film * ''Gabriela'' (1950 film), a German film * ''Gabriela'' (1983 film), a Brazilian film * ''Gabriela' ...

'' (1975), '' O Grito'' (1975), '' Isaura, The Slave Girl'' (1976), '' Dona Xepa'' (1977), '' A Sucessora'' (1978) and ''

'' (1986). Perhaps his best-known work came in 1976, when he portrayed the cruel villain Leôncio Almeida, a powerful farm owner and ruthless slave owner in the telenovela '' Escrava Isaura''. De Falco's character, Leôncio Almeida, fell in love with one of his slaves, played by Brazilian actress Lucélia Santos. ''Escrava Isaura'' was extremely well received globally and became a hit in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. ''Escrava Isaura'' was the first soap opera ever broadcast in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and became the first

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

to air in China with a foreign

actress 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 ...

in the lead role. Rubens de Falco, who played Leôncio Almeida as one of his trademark villains, was called "the great villain of Brazilian television drama" by Lucélia Santos. He again portrayed a powerful farm owner and ruthless slave owner, the cruel villain Baron de Araruna in the 1986 telenovela, ''

'' alongside Lucélia Santos who starred this time as his rebellious daughter. De Falco's last television appearance as an actor was as Almeida in 2004 in the

Rede Record RecordTV (), formerly known as Rede Record, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In 2010, it was elected by the adverti ...

remake of '' A Escrava Isaura''.

Death

Rubens de Falco died on February 22, 2008 of heart failure at the CIAI Center for the Aged in São Paulo, Brazil. He was not married and left no descendants.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Rubens de Falco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falco, Rubens de 1931 births 2008 deaths Brazilian male telenovela actors Brazilian male stage actors Brazilian male film actors Brazilian male television actors Male actors from São Paulo