Who was and what did Amácio Mazzaropi do? Summary of Mazzaropi's life
Amácio Mazzaropi was a Brazilian filmmaker, born in the Santa Cecília neighborhood, in São Paulo, on April 9, 1912. He became known for producing films with modest budgets, but very funny.
Mazzaropi left his parents' home at the age of 14 to join Circo La Paz. To be able to leave with the troupe, the boy had to forge his identity document.
The comedian traveled through the interior of the country, where he had the idea of creating a character with hillbilly characteristics. In 1935 he created his own theater company. Next came the Mazzaropi Troupe.
Mazzaropi's Life and Career
In 1946, Amácio Mazzaropi was hired by Rádio Tupi in Rio de Janeiro. In 1950, he began working on television.
After his time on TV, Mazzaropi became famous and ended up choosing to dedicate himself to cinema. Initially, he acted in eight films as a contract actor and, in 1958, he founded Pam Filmes, Produções Amácio Mazzaropi.
The first film produced by Mazzaropi was called “Chofer de Praça”. With little money, the filmmaker and comedian's films were filmed on a borrowed farm in the city of Taubaté, in the interior of São Paulo.
Amácio Mazzaropi's most successful films were: Tristeza do Jeca, My Brazilian Japan, Swimming in Money, Jeca and the Nun, among others...
Mazzaropi became known for playing the country bumpkin with a drawl, shy and full of malice. In the early 70s, he built new studios in the city of Taubaté.
The artist never married, but adopted a son who helped him with the production of the films. The height of Mazzaropi's success was between the 1960s and 1970s.
The filmmaker died on June 13, 1981, at the age of 69, a victim of cancer. The filmmaker's old studios were transformed into the Hotel Fazenda Mazzaropi, which to this day houses the Mazzaropi Museum, in the city of Taubaté.
In total, Mazzaropi produced 32 feature films.
