Norma Aparecida Almeida Pinto Guimarães d'Áurea Bengell (21 February 1935 – 9 October 2013)[2] was a Brazilian film, stage and television actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. She appeared in several episodes of T.H.E. Cat, the first being in 1966 episode “To Kill a Priest”.

Norma Bengell
Bengell in 1966
Born
Norma Bengell[1]

(1935-02-21)21 February 1935
Died9 October 2013(2013-10-09) (aged 78)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Occupations
  • Actress
  • film director
  • screenwriter
  • singer-songwriter
Years active1959–2010
Spouse
(m. 1963; div. 1969)
PartnerSônia Nercessian (1972–2007; her death)

Biography edit

Bengell was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] She was the daughter of Christian Friedrich Bengel, a Belgian-born German piano tuner, and Maria da Glória Guimarães, a wealthy young Brazilian woman from the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Around the age of 10, her parents separated. Being rebellious, Norma was interned in a college of nuns. After a difficult time, she began working in the early 1950s, first as a model and then as a revue star, where she developed her singing career.

Career edit

Bengell was active in the film industry from 1959. She appeared in numerous international productions, including an extended period during the mid-1960s co-starring in Italian productions, in which she was usually cast as the protagonist's romantic interest. She is possibly best known for starring with Alberto Sordi in Alberto Lattuada's Mafioso (1962) and in Sergio Corbucci's The Hellbenders (1967).[4] She had a major role as a prostitute in Anselmo Duarte's Keeper of Promises (1962), a Brazilian drama that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1963 and won the Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival in 1962.[5] Earlier that same year, she caused major controversy after appearing nude in a scene of the Ruy Guerra film Os Cafajestes.[6]

In 1987, she directed her first film, Eternamente Pagu, a biography of Patrícia Galvão.[7] In 1996, she directed an adaptation of José de Alencar's novel The Guarani, also titled The Guarani.[3]

Death edit

She died from lung cancer aged 78 in Rio de Janeiro on 9 October 2013.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ Electoral registration 1964-04-16
  2. ^ "Morre atriz e diretora Norma Bengell aos 78". Universo Online. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Norma Bengell". BFI. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Norma Bengell | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  5. ^ "O Pagador de Promessas (1962) - Anselmo Duarte | Awards | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  6. ^ Britto, Rafaella. "Norma Bengell: the transgressive muse of Brazilian cinema". theworldofapu.com. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Eternamente Pagu (1989) - Norma Bengell | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  8. ^ "Google Translate". translate.google.com.

External links edit