Mário Lago OMC ( November 26, 1911 — May 30, 2002) was a Brazilian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, broadcaster,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

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. ...

. In the 1940s and 1950s, he was known for composing popular

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

songs, such as "Ai! que saudade da Amélia" and "Atire a primeira pedra", both in partnership with Ataulfo Alves.

Biography

Lago was born in Rio de Janeiro, son of the

maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning " master" or "teacher," plural: maestros or maestri) is an honorific title of respect, sometimes abbreviated Mo. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and oper ...

Antônio Lago and Francisca Maria Vicencia Croccia Lago, and grandson of the Italian

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and musician Giuseppe Croccia. He graduated in Law the

Universidade do Brasil The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is a public research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites ...

, in 1933, getting involved in political

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

, and joining the Brazilian Communist Party, PCB. After graduation, Lago worked briefly as a lawyer. Because of his political beliefs, Lago was imprisoned seven times - 1932, 1941, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1964 and 1969. He married Zeli, daughter of the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

militant Henrique Cordeiro, until her death in 1997. The couple had five children: Antônio Henrique, Graça Maria, Mário Lago Filho, Luís Carlos (named after

Luís Carlos Prestes Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a Brazilian revolutionary and politician who served as the Secretary (title), general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a senator for the Federal Distric ...

) and Vanda. He was a supporter of

Fluminense Football Club Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest Association football, football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato B ...

Artistic career

Lago started on poetry with 15 years old, publishing a poem on the magazine "'". He wrote

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

plays and songs from 1933 to 1958, also acting in stage and radio plays, invited by fellow actor . With Braguinha, he wrote the screenplay for the 1939 film '' Banana da Terra'', starring

Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda (), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature ...

. The first song he wrote was "Menina, eu sei de uma coisa", in partnership with , recorded in 1935 by Mário Reis. Three years later, Orlando Silva recorded Mario's song "Nada além". His best known works were "Ai! que saudade da Amélia", "Atire a primeira pedra", in partnership with Ataulfo Alves; "É tão gostoso, seu moço", with

Chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

, "Número um", with

Benedito Lacerda Benedicto Lacerda (14 March 1903 – 16 February 1958) was a Brazilian composer, flutist, and maestro.Biography< ...

, the samba "Fracasso" and the carnival song "Aurora", with Roberto Roberti, recorded by

. In "Ai! que saudade da Amélia", the description of an idealized woman became so popular that "Amélia" became a synonym in Brazil for a submissive, resigned woman dedicated to housework. Lago played on more than 30 films, among them '' The Priest and the Girl'', '' Entranced Earth'', '' Os Herdeiros'' and '' S. Bernardo''. He also acted in several telenovelas, most of them in

TV 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 broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

, like '' O Sheik de Agadir'', '' Cavalo de Aço'', '' O Casarão'', and ''Dancing Days''. In 1989 Lago joined the Partido dos Trabalhadores, supporting

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

's presidential campaigns in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Death

He died on 30 May 2002, aged 90, on his house, in Rio de Janeiro South Zone. His funeral was on Teatro João Caetano, where he spent most of his career as an actor. Since his death, the theater of Colégio Pedro II is named as Teatro Mário Lago. He was buried in Cemitério de São João Batista, in

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 ...

. In 2001, in his honor the

program '' Domingão do Faustão'' created the ''Troféu Mário Lago'', awarded to the best

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 (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

actor or actress.

Filmography

Television

Cinema

References

External links

Mário Lago's official website (in Portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lago, Mário Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian Marxists Brazilian atheists Actors from Rio de Janeiro (state) Brazilian composers 2002 deaths 1911 births