José Wilker Almeida (20 August 1944 – 5 April 2014) was a Brazilian film, stage, and television actor and director. The actor gained fame in telenovelas like '' Roque Santeiro'' (1985), but became known internationally for his role as Vadinho, the husband who returns from the dead to tempt

Sônia Braga Sônia Maria Campos Braga (; born 8 June 1950) is a Brazilian actress. She is known in the English-speaking world for her Golden Globe Award–nominated performances in ''Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985 film), Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (1985) a ...

's character in the movie '' Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'' (1976).

Career

Wilker was born on 20 August 1944, in Juazeiro do Norte. He started his career as a radio announcer at a radio in Ceará, where he was born. He moved to

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

and worked in the theater as a member of Movimento de Cultura Popular (MPC). The group brought culture and lessons in reading, writing, and politics. MPC was banned during the military repression in the 1960s, and Wilker moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. He began working in cinema in Rio, which was at the forefront of Brazilian experimental and national cinema. He was 19 when he appeared in his first film, in 1965 (''A Falecida''), starring Fernanda Montenegro. In Rio, Wilker also got involved with the Teatro Ipanema theater group, headed by

Rubens Corrêa Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

and Ivan de Albuquerque. At Teatro Ipanema he rose to underground fame with his role in Fernando Arrabal's ''O Arquiteto e o Imperador da Assíria'' ('' The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria'') (1970), and starred in his own ''A China é Azul'' (''China is Blue'') (1972). He worked in television

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s for decades. He debuted in 1971 on the popular show ''Bandeira 2'' (''Flag 2'') written by Dias Gomes and televised on the

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

network. Wilker gained acclaim for his role as the protagonist in the soap opera '' Roque Santeiro'', starring with Regina Duarte and Lima Duarte. Between 1997 and 2002, he directed many episodes of'' Sai Down''. In 1979, he was cast in the movie '' Bye Bye Brazil'' and in 1986 in '' The Man in the Black Cape''. Among his most memorable roles in movies was

Tiradentes Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (; 12 November 1746 – 21 April 1792), known as Tiradentes (), was a leading member of the Colonial Brazil, colonial Brazilian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira, whose aim was full i ...

in the film'' The Conspirators'' of 1972, Vadinho – which broke box office records in theaters – in '' Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'' in 1976, as the politician Tenorio Cavalcanti in ''The Man in Black'' Cover of 1986 and Anthony Advisor of ''War'' Canudos of 1997. In

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''JK'', he played an older

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...

during his time as President of the Republic. In 1992 he worked in ''

Medicine Man A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...

'' along with

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

and

Lorraine Bracco Lorraine Bracco (born October 2, 1954) is an American actress best known for her performance as psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on the HBO crime drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007) and for her breakthrough role portraying Karen Friedman Hil ...

Death

José Wilker died on 5 April 2014, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, aged 69.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director

*1983: '' Louco Amor'' *1984: '' Transas e Caretas'' *1987: Corpo Santo *1987: '' Carmem (telenovela)'' *1997-2002: ''

Sai de Baixo ''Sai de Baixo'' (a Brazilian Portuguese language, Portuguese slang roughly translated as "get out of the way") is a Brazilian sitcom that first aired on Rede Globo from 1996 to 2002. It followed the lives of the members of a dysfunctional family, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilker, Jose 1944 births 2014 deaths Brazilian male telenovela actors Brazilian male film actors Brazilian people of Dutch descent People from Juazeiro do Norte Male actors from Ceará