In 1927, at the age of 18, she was elected Miss Ipanema and in 1930 she released her first album, for which she wrote the songs 'Moreno, meu bem' and 'Coco de Pagu', and in partnership with Henrique Vogeler, another four songs. In two years, she would record eleven albums with twenty-two songs, almost all her own compositions.

In 1932 she debuted in theater alongside Paulo Gracindo (still billed as 'Pelópidas Gracindo') in the musical revue "Plaquette" by Henrique Pongetti (produced by Francisco Pepe, Raul Roulien's brother).

In 1933 she married William Melniker, a lawyer, and the managing director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for South America, in a private ceremony.

In 1939, in the United States, she participated in one of the first NBC TV's broadcastings in New York, singing works by Tchaikovsky. Hired by NBC radio, she headed to Los Angeles, where she was cast to play opposite Tyrone Power in Blood and Sand (1941) in the role of 'Doña Sol', but an inappropriate incident by a producer at Victor Hugo's Restaurant put an end to the actress' career in Hollywood (and Rita Hayworth was cast instead). Her first film role credit would be in Brazil, in the early 1940s.

She appeared in over 80 plays, and her last performances on stage were on Anthony Marriott's "No Sex... Please!" ('No Sex Please, We're British, 1971) in 1978 and João Bethencourt's "Frank Sinatra 4815" in 1985, both at Rio de Janeiro's Teatro Mesbla.

See photos of celebrities before they hit the big-time.

Laura Suarez

Actress