António Maria da Silva (15 August 1886 – 3 March 1971) was a Portuguese

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He appeared in more than 40 productions over his more than 50 years in acting.

Early life

António Silva was born to a humble family, one of many sons and daughters of Francisco Constantino Augusto da Silva (born December 19, 1849,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Socorro), a

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

gilder in

, who married Amélia das Dores (July 4, 1853,

, Lumiar,

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, Lumiar, on August 27, 1849; for her parents' devotion her Godmother was Our Lady of the Pains. – April 4, 1936,

, São Jorge de Arroios). The family lived at Rua do Jasmim nr. 5. António was an employee at a

drugstore A pharmacy (also called drugstore in American English or community pharmacy or chemist in Commonwealth English) is a premises which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of m ...

, a

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the c ...

and a fireman, where he rose to the rank of commander, before he became an actor.

Career

He studied business and took part in several amateur stage groups. His first appearance as an actor was in 1910, in the play "The New Christ", by

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

, that the Alves da Silva company produced at the Teatro da Rua dos Condes. A success, he was signed to a contract, appearing in other small roles in plays such as "O Conde de Monte Cristo" or "O Rei Maldito". Between 1913 and 1921, he travelled with the António de Sousa company across

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, where he starred in Brazilian silent films such as '' Convém Martelar'' and '' Coração de Gaúcho'' in 1920, and in the same year he married Josefina Barco. On his return to Portugal, he worked for several years at the Satanella Amarante company, in light theatre plays and reviews. After working with several other theatre companies (Lopo Lauer, António de Macedo, Comediantes de Lisboa, Vasco Morgado), he finally reached the limelight of Portuguese cinema, when he joined the cast of '' A Canção de Lisboa'', by Cottinelli Telmo in 1933. It was in movies, that his popularity and ingenuity as an actor was finally established. He performed in dramatic as well as comedic roles in over 30 films including: '' Wild Cattle'' (1934), '' As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor'' (1935), '' O Pátio das Cantigas'' (1942), '' O Costa do Castelo'' (1943), '' Amor de Perdição'' (1943), '' Camões'' (1946), '' O Leão da Estrela'' (1947), and ''

Fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...

'' (1948). His last film performance was in 1966, in ''

O Sarilho de Fraldas O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of 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 ), ...

'', with António Calvário and

Madalena Iglésias Madalena Iglésias (24 October 1939 – 16 January 2018) was a Portuguese actress and singer. She represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, with the song "Ele e ela". Biography Mada ...

Distinctions

National orders

PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Officer BAR

Officer of the

Order of Saint James of the Sword The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (), formerly known as the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientific, Literary and Artistic Merit (), is one of the four former ancient Port ...

(4 November 1966) * POR Ordem do Merito Oficial BAR

Officer of the Order of Benefaction (5 October 1936)

References

* ''Fotobiografias do Século XX'', Photobiography of António Silva, Círculo de Leitores. {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Antonio 1886 births 1971 deaths Male actors from Lisbon Officers of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Officers of the Order of Saint James of the Sword Portuguese male film actors Portuguese male silent film actors