Ruth de Souza

Ruth takes Debbie Reynolds on a tour of Vera Cruz studios with ... in 1953, when the US actress visited Brazil. 

Abdias Nascimento

12 March 1954 - Correio da Manhã prints a photo of Abdias Nascimento who would turn 40 years old in 2 days... for he was born in Franca-SP on 14 March 1914.

100 years old on 5 January 1958

5 January 1958 - Rio de Janeiro daily 'Correio da Manhã' tells the story of Maria Barbara Pereira da Silva who was born on 5 January 1858, and turned 100 years old on that day. 

Heitor dos Prazeres

'O Cruzeiro' 1st December 1951.'

Brazilian Negro according to 'O Cruzeiro' - 22nd May 1954

Weekly magazine 'O Cruzeiro' brings an 8-page article about the situation of the Brazilian Negro after 66 years of the Abolition of Slavey in 1888 in its issue of 22nd May 1954. 

JOHNNY ALF

Johnny Alf was ahead of his time. In the early 1950s, he was a young man who learned English, played piano and was listened to a lot of jazz records. He started playing the piano professionally at night clubs in his native Rio de Janeiro and soon moved on to São Paulo where he was paid more money. He ended up staying in São Paulo for 6 years, finally returning to the Marvelous City circa 1962, when he joined the Bossa Nova movement. 

Radiolandia n. 397 - 1st April 1963. 

1965.

JAMELÃO

BLACK-OUT aka Blackout or BLECAUTE

Octavio Henrique de Oliveira was given this quaint moniker - Black-Out - when he started singing at radio stations in Sao Paulo in the mid-1940s. It obviously had racist connotations but Octavio didn't seem to mind.

Marly plays the piano while Antonio, mother Rosa & dad Octavio look on... 

Black-Out shows he can play the piano too...

Marly kisses her father's hand on her graduation day - Radiolandia, 1st April 1963.

Octavio Henrique de Oliveira was born in Espirito Santo do Pinhal-SP on 5 December 1919. When he was 6 years old - in 1925 - he was taken to a boarding school in Sao Paulo: Colegio São Vicente de Paula. Apparently his family moved to the big city at the same time but why they didn't keep the boy at home is a mystery. They probably didn't have the means to feed him so the Saint Vincent's brothers took him in. Next thing we know is 1929, Octavio is 10 years old and is expelled from Grupo Escolar da Consolação (future Colegio Marina Cintra) for bad behaviour.

Child labour being second nature to Brazilian society, Octavio worked in a series of jobs from the time he was 10 years old until he became an adult: as a shoe-shine boy; as a newspaper-seller; as a chemist-hand, a boy who delivers parcels to clients' homes, sweeps the place and washes glassware; at a dry-cleaners' place where he probably helped in washing, pressing and delivering clothes; as a messenger-boy (that escapes my imagination as to its job description); and a mechanic helper in a garage where he learned the mysteries of fixing cars' engines.

In 1933, when he was 14 years old, Octavio sang at Radio Tupi's 'Peneira de Ouro', a popular gong-show and was well received by the audience. After singing as an amateur for 7 years, he was finally signed by Radio Difusora in 1941, and given an obviously racist moniker 'Blackout' (Apagão) - an English word much used in newspapers then to describe the blackouts Londoners were suffering as consequence of Hitler's bombs dropped off from Luftwaffe airplanes. According to legend, it was Capitão Furtado who came up with the idea. As Brazilians didn't know how to pronounce 'Blackout' they soon came up with a Brazilian spelling: Blecaute!

Octavio married Rosa in 1941 and had Marly in 1942 and Antonio in 1947. 

Radiolandia n. 19 - 1954. 

Radiolandia n. 24 - September 1954 - says Black-Out was earning a lot of money having invested most of it in real estate buying 5 lots for future houses; apparently he owned his spacious house in Rio de Janeiro-DF.

Radiolandia n. 33 - 1954.

Radiolandia n. 60 - 1955 was a busy year for Black-Out.

Radiolandia n. 69 - 1955 - This is what a fan wrote to Black-Out: 'You're a nice negro and you have a white soul'. 

Radiolandia n. 157 - 1957 - tells how 'Programa de Calouros Golgate-Palmolive' on PRE-4, Radio Cultura which beamed on Saturdays from 2:30 to 5:00 PM - started in 1939, when Radio Cultura had its studio in Jabaquara, a far-away suburb in the South sector. It had its hey-day as 'Peneira Rhodine' being MCed first by Gregorian, then Walter Gonçalves, Jota Silvestre & finally Helio Araujo near its demise - who introduced between 50 to 60 contentants in its 2:30 broadcast. 

Black-Out was a song writer too. 'Natal das crianças', recorded for 1955 Christmas, was undoubtedly his greatest self-penned hit ever. Above are 'Feliz ano novo' and 'Natal de Jesus'.

Black-Out dances with his daughter Marly on her graduation-day in January 1963.

Radiolandia n. 364 - 1st April 1963.

'Carioca' n.654 - 1947. 

Leny Andrade

Radiolandia n. 354 - 15 June 1961.

Leny Andrade in 1961.

Leny Andrade grew up into a musical family. Her mother Rute taught her how to play the piano at an early age. She had a good voice and used to sing along while practicing her scales. She used to play a lot of records by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan & Billie Holiday on her record player and as she didn't always knew the English lyrics she would improvise over those songs in the way Fitzgerald and Vaughan used to scat. Leny ended up creating her own Brazilian-style scatting and that opened doors to her in the night-club circuit plus a contract with RCA Victor to record a whole album.

Leny & her mother Ruth, who was a great piano player bore an uncanny resemblance...

Monsueto Menezes

Monsueto Menezes being at a panel that judged songs in a song festival at Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s.

19 January 1964 - 'Correio da Manhã's 'Olho mágico' column is dedicated to Monsueto, um sambista e ator:

real name: Monsueto Campos Menezes.

alias: Monsueto.

What have you done lately?: I work as an actor and comedian at TV Rio, Channel 13; I also write sambas and perform in night clubs, radio & TV stations round the country.

What did you do before that?: I was a drummer.

Who would you like to be?: Myself but 50 years older.

Do you considerer yourself accomplished?:
In part only. I'd like to see my kids doing right with all 7 notes in their heads.

What was your greatest hit?:
As a song writer it was 'Me deixa em paz', recorded by Linda Baptista for Carnaval 1951.
As an actor it was in the sketch 'A coroa do morto' (Dead man's crown) at 'Noites Cariocas'.

What would you like to do besides what you've done?: I'd like to go to college. To become a doctor.

Which is better: radio or TV?:  Television shows everything... radio only produces sounds...

Your date-of-birth?: I was born on 4 November 1924, in the suburb of Gavea in the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro-DF.

What's the make of your car?: a 1954 Ford.

What TV show do you appear in?: 'Noites Cariocas' every Friday.

What do you like to read?: Shakespeare even though nobody seems to believe me.

Who are your best friends?: hundreds... among them Antonio Maria, Fernando Lobo, Péricles do Amaral, Armando Couto, José Mizlara & the fellows who play samba.

How do you have fun?: seeing other people having fun.
What do you do when you're not performin?: I sleep, sleep, sleep...

How did you start in show business?: Caribé da Rocha, Linda Baptista & Carlos Machado thought I had the trappings and started pushing me... that happened in 1950.

Are your married?: I'm divorced and married a 2nd time. I live well with my 2nd wife; we have 3 children.