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 Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, the man who for ever changed the direction of the Brazilian theater in 1958 with the play Eles Não Usam Black-Tie (They Don't Wear Black-Tie), the story about a workers strike and the dilemmas of those taking part in it, died this Saturday, July 22, in a São Paulo hospital from the complications of chronic renal insufficiency, at age 71. He had been in hemodialysis for more than 5 years.
After Black-Tie, which he wrote when he was only 24, Guarnieri would author more than 20 plays and scores of scripts for TV specials and miniseries. Born in Milan, Italy, on August 6, 1934, the son of maestro Edoardo Guarnieri and harpist Elsa, Gianfrancesco Sigfrido Benedetto Marinenghi de Guarnieri was only three when his family moved to Brazil fleeing Fascism. They went to live in the Cosme Velho neighborhood in Rio, where they stayed until 1953. In several interviews, the author/actor has stressed the influence his maid Margarida, and her mother, who was an illiterate woman living in the favela. had over him. "It was Margarida," he said, "who taught me about popular culture, the life on Rio's streets, hills and favelas." It was Margarida also who inspired his character Romana, in Eles Não Usam Black-Tie, Guarnieri confided. Among the great actresses who played Romana, the matriarch of the play, there was Lélia Abramo in the first stage presentation. Then, Fernanda Montenegro in 1981 played the same role in the movie version of the play with direction by Leon Hirszman. Ana Lúcia Torre was another one to take the role in 2001, one of the latest stagings of the play. Guarnieri talked about being divided since childhood between two directions: one of contemplation and another of action: "Early on I felt split between concrete political action and a more contemplative road, through cultural and artistic action," he said in an interview to daily newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. Precocious, he started writing to a newspaper for the communist youth when he was still 13. The actor told that the editor hated his first text: "I thought that in order to write for a newspaper you needed to use difficult words. After reading my first text, the editor tore it apart and almost assaulted me physically." His first play, written when he was still in high school in Rio's religious establishment Santo Antônio Maria Zacharias ended up with his expulsion. Although Sombras do Passado (Shadows of the Past) had nothing to do with the school life, the character he created and played was recognized by the students as the hated deputy-rector and they started screaming the loathed religious name during the staging of the play. Guarnieri had to go. After moving to São Paulo in 1953 Guarnieri joining a theater amateur group directed by Vianinha (Oduvaldo Vianna Filho - 1936-1974) celebrated author, director and actor. Eles Não Usam Black-Tie was Guarnieri's first work as a playwright. Staged for the first time in 1958 the play brought a lot of attention and resources to Teatro de Arena in a financially difficult time for that experimental theater house. In partnership with Augusto Boal, another influential theater director and playwright, Guarnieri wrote two historical plays with a revolutionary slant: Arena Conta Zumbi (Arena Tells Zumbi Story, 1965) and Arena Conta Tiradentes (Arena Tells the Story of Tiradentes, 1967). This would be called resistance theater. In the 70s, his play Basta! (Enough!) was censored and prevented from being staged by the military dictatorship. But in 1976, using allegory Guarnieri was able to stage Ponto de Partida (Start Point), a medieval story in which one day a poet is found hanged and nobody knows why or who did it. Everyone understood the poet was Wladimir Herzog, a journalist who had been killed while being interrogated by the police. The official version, however, said he had hanged himself. His play won four of the most important prizes that year. In 1958, Guarnieri married journalist Cecília Thompson with whom he had two sons: Flávio Eduardo and Paulo, both of which have become actors. He had another three children (Cláudio, Fernando and Mariana - only Fernando hasn't followed on his steps) after separating from Cecília and marrying sociologist Vanya Sant'Anna in 1965, with whom he has since lived. Guarnieri continued active as an actor up to a few weeks ago. On June 2 he was forced to enter a hospital. Until then he was playing the role of Peppe, the owner of a theater company, in Globo's just-finished prime-time novela (soap opera), Belíssima (Extra Pretty). On July 14, the day the last chapter was aired, Belíssima's actors paid an homage to Guarnieri with a telephone call to his hospital in which they wished him speedy recovery. Guarnieri's death comes just three days after the passing of Raul Cortez, 73, another Brazilian beloved actor and a monument to acting in movies, stage and television. Cortez died from pancreatic cancer after a four-year struggle against the disease.
Guarnieri's Work: Soap Operas, Movies and Miniseries "Belíssima" (2006) - Peppe "Metamorphoses" (2004) - Dr. Eugênio "Esperança" (2002) - Pellegrini "Vidas Cruzadas " (2000) - Policarpo "Terra Nostra" (1999) - Giulio Esplendore "Meu Pé de Laranja Lima" (1998) ... Manoel "Serras Azuis" (1998) - Dr.Gross "Canoa do Bagre" (1997) - Juarez "Razão de Viver" (1996) - Alcides "O quatrilho" (movie, 1995) - Padre Giobbe "A próxima vítima" (1995) - Eliseu Giardini "Incidente em Antares" (miniseries, 1994) - Pudim de Cachaça "Pátria Minha" (1994) "O mapa da mina" (1993) - Vicente Rocha "Anos Rebeldes" (miniseries, 1992) - Dr. Salviano "Mundo da Lua" (1991) - Vô Orlando "Rainha da Sucata" (1990) - Saldanha "Cortina de Vidro" (1989) - Artur "Que rei sou eu?" (1989) - Rei Petrus II "Mandala" (1987) - Túlio Silveira "Helena" (1987) - Walter Scott "Cambalacho" (1986) - Jerônimo 'Jejê' Machado "Por incrível que pareça" (movie, 1986) "Vereda Tropical" (1984) - Jamil "Sabor de mel" (1983) "A próxima vítima" (1983) "Sol de verão" (1982) - Caetano "Jogo da Vida" (1981) - Manoel Vieira de Souza "Rosa Baiana" (1981) - Agenor "Eles não usam black-tie" (movie, 1981) - Otávio "Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade" (movie, 1980) - Enrico "Asa Branca, um sonho brasileiro" (movie, 1980) "Roda de Fogo" (1978) "Curumim" (1978) "Diário da Província" (1978) "As Três Mortes de Solano" (1978) "Éramos Seis" (1977) - Júlio "O jogo da vida" (movie, 1977) "Os Inocentes" (1974) - Chico "Mulheres de Areia" (1973) - Tonho da Lua "Camomila e Bem-Me-Quer" (1972) - Olegário "Signo da Esperança" (1972) "Nossa Filha Gabriela" (1971) - Giuliano "Meu Pé de Laranja Lima" (1970) - Ariovaldo "Dez Vidas" (1969) - Tomás Antônio Gonzaga, o Dirceu "Os Estranhos" (1969) - Bernardo "A Muralha" (1968) - Leonel "O Terceiro Pecado" (1968) - Professor Alexandre "O tempo e o vento" (1967) "A Hora Marcada" (1967) - André "O Grande Momento" (1958) - Zeca
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