| Breno Mello | |
|---|---|
| Born | Breno Mello September 7, 1931 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Died | July 11, 2008 (aged 76) Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
Breno Mello (September 7, 1931 – July 11, 2008) was an athlete and actor.
He was born in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, a state of Southern Brazil. In the beginning of his career, Breno Mello was a soccer player. He played soccer in Gremio and Fluminense, where he met Pelé. While he was playing in Rio de Janeiro, he was invited by Marcel Camus to star the first version of Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). Breno Mello was best known for his role as Orpheus in the Palme d'Or winning film Black Orpheus, in which he sang the now famous Bossa nova songs "A Felicidade" and "Manhã de Carnaval" (also known as "A Day in the Life of a Fool").
Mello also lived in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, where he met Amelina Santos Corrêa, also known as Mana. He had his youngest daughter, Letícia with her.
Until 2004, Mello had stepped away from acting and there had been a search for him to appear in the documentary "À la recherche d'Orfeu Negro" (in which he portrayed himself) to talk about the impact that the movie Black Orpheus had on the world of Brazilian music, such as Bossa Nova and samba. Mello died in his hometown of Porto Alegre, Brazil, at the age of 76 years on July 11, 2008 from a heart attack.[1][2] His Black Orpheus co-star American-born actress Marpessa Dawn, died 42 days later of a heart attack, in Paris, France. Dawn was 74.