Milton Gonçalves
Actor, Theater and TV Director, Journalist
(Minas Gerais - Brazil)
He was born in Monte Santo, Minas Gerais on December, 9th, 1933. He’s been married to Oda Gonçalves since 1966, they have 3 children.
He started his career in São Paulo. His mother always stimulated him to go to the movies to watch films, by doing that he wouldn’t be hanging around with his friends that, in her point of view, would be harmful with bad influence.
His mother, in her sublime ignorance, had a deeply rooted sense of ethics and decency about her kids’ behavior. If Milton had taken a vocational test he would discover he had, among others, the ability to speak other languages and to act. One day, after having acted in some small plays, he happened to know that a new director from Rio de Janeiro was looking for an actor to play an old black man part in the play Of Mice and Men (Ratos e Homens). The Director was Algusto Boal and the group was the “Teatro de Arena de São Paulo”. “There I met Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, Flávio Migliaccio, Oduvaldo Viana and many others. They studied The History of Theater, Artistic Discussion, Posture, Philosophy, Art and Politics.”
Milton felt absolutely comfortable among them. He ventured to write two plays, one of them was mounted by the “Teatro Experimental do Negro”, section São Paulo and directed by Dalmo Ferreira. With the “Teatro de Arena” getting politically engaged Milton traveled all over Brazil with shows that confirmed his position and determined his life from that point on. “I learned everything I know about Theater there. It was fundamental for my comprehension of the world.”
Milton has been a supporter of the Brazilian Democratic Movement since he was young. He was in the front line of the learning of Brazilian politics issues. He was one of the presenters of the movement for the direct presidential election (Diretas já), he was the anchor of the Presidential Campaign and even tried the political career in the 90’s, as a candidate to Rio de Janeiro governorship in 1994. He was eventually nominated Sub-secretary in the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Relating to cinema, he has acted in over sixty films, where we can highlight "Macunaima", They Don’t Wear Black Tie (Eles nao Usam Black Tie), Kiss of the Spider Woman (O Beijo da Mulher Aranha), Carandiru, The Devil Queen (Rainha Diaba), with which he won the four major film awards in Brazil, among others.
On television, he’s directed and played more then fifty soap operas, with emphasis on performances that stand out in history like the Boatman Braz in Brothers Courage (Irnmãos Coragem), Zelão Wings in The Well-Loved (O Bem Amado), the Attorney Lourival Prata in “Roque Santeiro”, Eusébio in the miniseries August (Agosto), and more recently, Romildo Rosas in The Favorite One (A Favorita) and Colonel Caetano in the series Taskforce (Força Tarefa).
Main Awards:
• In only one year, he won the four major film awards in Brazil for Best Actor for the film The Devil Queen (Rainha Diaba) – The Candango Trophy (Trofeu Candango), Air France, The Governor of the State (Governador do Estado) and The Golden Owl (Coruja de Ouro).
• The Best Actor in the 32nd Gramado’s Film Festival (Brazilian and Latin Cinema) for the film The Wind Children (As Filhas do Vento).
• The TECO Theater Award for the set of his works.
• The Estácio de Sá Award in 1981, from the Secretary of Education and Culture of the State of Rio de Janeiro, as the Highlight of the Year.
• The Best Actor in the Christmas Festival Award for the film Portela’s Christmas (Natal da Portela).
As Mason, Brother Milton Gonçalves belongs to Augusta, Respectable Symbolic Lodge Vigilantes of Law in Rio de Janeiro subordinate to the Grand Lodges of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
He is Grand Secretary of Culture of Masonic Grand Lodges of the State of Rio de Janeiro and a Member of the Masonic Academy of Arts and Science of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
