Maria Lucélia dos Santos (born 20 May 1957) is a Brazilian actress, director and producer. She received international acclaim for her leading role in the 1976 Rede Globo telenovela Isaura, The Slave Girl, broadcast in over 80 countries.

Biography

Maria Lucélia dos Santos was born in Santo André, São Paulo, to Maurílio Simões dos Santos and Maria Moura dos Santos. Her parents were both blue collar workers. She has two siblings: Maurílio Wagner and Cristina Santos, also an actress. Due to her early stage success, Lucélia was invited to star in the film Paranóia in 1976, at the age of 19. After three other small roles in unsuccessful films, that same year she landed the leading role in Escrava Isaura, which tells the story of the struggle of a white-skinned black slave to find happiness during the Brazilian Empire. The telenovela, based on the novel of the same name by 19th-century abolitionist writer Bernardo Guimarães, is the most dubbed program in the history of world television, according to a research conducted by Good Morning America. Their son, Pedro Neschling (born June 28, 1982), is also an actor.

Lucélia has always been a friend of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, since her parents' house was located in front of the Santo André labor union headquarters, where then metallurgist Lula began his political career. Her involvement with the Workers' Party emerged in the late 1970s, when some outlawed from the military regime began to return to Brazil and continues until the present day. She was engaged in all of Lula's presidential campaigns. In addition to her support of the Workers' Party, Lucélia was also one of the first artists to support the Green Party, raising awareness to the problems of deforestation. She has also supported Diretas Já and breastfeeding.

Filmography

As an actress

Motion pictures

  • 1976: Um Brasileiro Chamado Rosaflor
  • 1976: O Ibraim do Subúrbio
  • 1976: Já Não Se Faz Amor Como Antigamente
  • 1976: Paranóia as Lúcia Riccelli
  • 1977: A Ordem Natural das Coisas as Ciça
  • 1980: Romeu e Julieta as Julieta
  • 1981: Bonitinha Mas Ordinária as Maria Cecília
  • 1981: Engraçadinha as Engraçadinha
  • 1981: Álbum de Família as Gória
  • 1982: Luz del Fuego as Luz del Fuego
  • 1982: O Sonho Não Acabou as Lucinha
  • 1983: Alice & Alice as Alice Maria
  • 1985: Fonte da Saudade as Bárbara/Guida/Alba
  • 1986: Baixo Gávea as Clara
  • 1986: As Sete Vampiras as Elisa Machado
  • 1989: Kuarup as Lídia
  • 1993: Vagas Para Moças de Fino Trato as Lúcia
  • 1993: Menino de Engenho as Clarice/Maria Menina
  • 2001: Três Histórias da Bahia
  • 2003: O Ovo
  • 2008: Um Amor do Outro Lado do Mundo as Luiza
  • 2010: Lula, o filho do Brasil as a teacher of Lula
  • 2023: The Erection of Toribio Bardelli

Television

  • 1976 Isaura, The Slave Girl (Rede Globo) as Isaura dos Anjos/Elvira
  • 1977: Locomotivas (Rede Globo) as Fernanda Cabral
  • 1978: Dancin' Days (Rede Globo) as Loreta
  • 1978: Ciranda Cirandinha (Rede Globo) as Tatiana
  • 1979: Feijão Maravilha (Rede Globo) as Eliana
  • 1979: Malu Mulher (Rede Globo) as Josineide (episode "Ainda Não é Hora")
  • 1979: Plantão de Polícia (Rede Globo) as Marcela (episode "Despedida de Solteiro")
  • 1980: Água Viva (Rede Globo) as Janete
  • 1981: Ciranda de Pedra (Rede Globo) as Virgínia Prado
  • 1983: Guerra dos Sexos (Rede Globo) as Carolina
  • 1984: Meu Destino é Pecar (Rede Globo) as Helena Castro Avelar
  • 1984: Vereda Tropical (Rede Globo) as Silvana Rocha
  • 1986: Sinhá Moça (Rede Globo) as Maria das Graças Ferreira
  • 1987: Carmem (Rede Manchete) as Carmem
  • 1990: Brasileiras e Brasileiros (SBT) as Paula
  • 1995: Sangue do Meu Sangue (SBT) as Júlia
  • 1996: Dona Anja (SBT) as Dona Anja
  • 2001: Malhação (Rede Globo) as Jackeline Lemos
  • 2006: Cidadão Brasileiro (Rede Record) as Fausta Gama
  • 2007: Donas de Casa Desesperadas (RedeTV!) as Suzana Mayer
  • 2008: Casos e Acasos (Rede Globo) as Lucila
  • 2011: Aline (Rede Globo) as Débora

Theater

  • 1974: Godspell
  • 1976: Transe no Dezoito

As a director

  • 2001: Timor Lorosae: The Unseen Massacre (documentary film)
  • 1997: O ponto de Mutaçâo da China Hoje (television miniseries)

Awards and recognitions

Lucélia has won numerous awards inside and outside of Brazil. In Brazil, she won the Brasília Film Festival Candango trophy for Best Actress for her performances in the films Engraçadinha (1981) and Vagas Para Moças de Fino Trato (1993). In 1982 she won the Kikito trophy for Best Actress for her performance in Luz del Fuego at the Gramado Film Festival. In 2002, her documentary Timor Lorosae received the Audience Award at the Recife Film Festival.

In addition to becoming the first actress to receive the Golden Eagle Award for Best Foreign Actress in China, in 1985, Lucélia was honored with the Jewel of China medal in 2004 for her efforts in bringing together the Chinese and Brazilian cultures. She was in Fernando Henrique Cardoso's presidential entourage to China, where she was warmly greeted by Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping.