Maria Fernanda

Fernanda was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1928,[2] the daughter of Brazilian famous writer Cecília Meireles[3] and Portugese painter Fernando Correia Dias. She studied theater at the Old Vic Dramatic Art School in Bristol, England

She debuts as an actress in 1948 at The Theatre of Brasil[4] playing the role of Ophelia in Hamlet by William Shakespeare.[5]

In 1954 she participated in three productions of the National Dramatic Company: As Casadas Solteiras by Martins Pena, Senhora dos Afogados by Nelson Rodrigues and Cidade Murdered by Antonio Callado. In 1962 she acted in different productions of A Streetcar named Desire by Tennessee Williams, one directed by Augusto Boal and Flavio Rangel which she received Molière,[6] Saci and Governor of the State for Best Actress in 1963

On television, she stood out in soap operas such as Gabriela, Pai Heroi and Dona Beija. In cinema she debuted in 1946 in the film Semper Resta Uma Esperança,[7] followed by an adoptation of the novel The Violet Land by Jorge Amando. Other films includes Luz Apagada (1953) and Carlota Joaquina Pricesa do Brasil (1995) by Carla Camurati where she plays D. Maria I.[8]

Maria married actor and director Luiz Gallon from 1956 to 1963, they had one son. In 1963 she married painter and writer Oscar Araripe from 1963 to 1968.[9]