Lucelia Santos

Lucélia Santos
Lucélia Santos on March 7, 2006.
Born	Maria Lucélia dos Santos (1957-05-20) May 20, 1957 (age 59) Santo André, São Paulo
Occupation	Actress, film director, film producer
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	John Neschling (divorced)

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

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.

At age 9, Lucélia heard actress Cacilda Becker on the radio calling children to do an audition for a role in one of her plays, but her mother did not allow her to perform. She had developed a taste for performing arts since she had seen the play A Moreninha, starred by Marília Pêra, in a school trip. Lucélia was completely fascinated by the show and decided that she would be an actress for the rest of her days.

Lucélia made her stage debut at the age of 14, in the children's play Dom Chicote Mula Manca e seu fiel companheiro Zé Chupança, replacing actress Débora Duarte, which had moved to Rio de Janeiro in order to star in the Rede Globo telenovela Bicho do Mato. She was then invited by Eugênio Kusnet to participate in his intensive two-year performing arts course. After the course, Lucélia acted in a production of Godspell, which was presented in a circus tent in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Botafogo. She finished high school in Rio, where she took the vestibular test for Medicine by an imposition of her father. She failed to enter in the University, since she was already deeply involved with her acting career.