Cacilda Becker

Cacilda Becker was born in 1921, in Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil. She was the daughter of Italian immigrants, Edmondo Iaconis and Alzira Becker. She had two sisters, one of them Cleyde Yáconis, who also became an actress. Her parents' marriage broke up when she was nine years old and her mother was forced to raise the three daughters alone. They settled in the city of Santos, where Cacilda started as an actress in amateur theater groups and turned professional in 1948. That year, she demanded to be hired as a professional, ending the old prejudice that serious artist should be dilettante. In 30 years of career, Cacilda performed in 68 plays staged in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; made two films (Luz dos Seus Olhos in 1947 and Floradas na Serra in 1954) and a soap opera (Ciúmes in 1966). On TV Tupi, she inaugurated the Teatro Municipal de São Carlos with the play Waiting for Godot in early 1969. Cacilda had three husbands, the last one Walmor Chagas, who adopted her only daughter, Maria Clara, born in 1964. Cacilda suffered a stroke on May 6, 1969 in São Paulo during a performance of the play Waiting for Godot, staged with her husband Walmor Chagas. She was taken to the hospital still wearing her costume. She died after 38 days in a coma and was buried in the Cemetery of Araçá, attended by a crowd of admirers.