Actress Aracy Balabanian died on the morning of this Monday (7) in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 83. The confirmation was made by the clinic where the actress was hospitalized. The cause of death has not been revealed.
The artist had a career spanning about 50 years, with participation in over 30 soap operas and theater plays. Additionally, she was marked by the show Sai de Baixo on TV Globo.
Born into an Armenian family, Aracy Balabanian was born in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, on February 22, 1940. In her teenage years, she nurtured the dream of becoming an actress. While still in school, living in São Paulo, she joined the Teatro Paulista do Estudante. At 18, Balabanian was accepted into two colleges, the Escola de Arte Dramática de São Paulo and Social Sciences at the University of São Paulo (USP). However, she followed her calling and only completed the Dramatic Arts course, despite her father’s wishes for her not to become an actress.
Starting in 1963, at the age of 23, she began participating in productions of the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia, including Os Ossos do Barão. She began her television career in the 1950s. In 1965, she worked on Marcados pelo Amor at TV Record. She then appeared in soap operas on the now-defunct TV Tupi.
In the 1970s, Aracy Balabanian debuted on TV Globo. Her first soap opera was O Primeiro Amor in 1972. The following year, she worked on the children’s program Vila Sésamo. Most of her artistic career was with the Rio de Janeiro network, while also performing in theater plays. Between 1986 and 1988, she worked at TV Manchete, returning to Globo in 1989 to star in Que Rei Sou Eu.
Dona Armênia
The accent and some customs from her Armenian family helped shape the personality of Dona Armênia, a prominent role played by Balabanian in the soap opera Rainha da Sucata (1990). The public’s acceptance was so great that the character returned in the soap opera Deus nos Acuda (1992).
“I learned to read and write, and I recited in Armenian because they started teaching me that very early. My father and mother taught me poems, which I recited,” the actress recalled in an interview with the program Sem Censura on TV Brasil in 2015. In the program, she remembered reciting poems at parties that gathered other Armenian families. “Then the elders would cry, so I realized I could move people, even when I was very little,” she said. “I later asked my father about it; he encouraged me [in my artistic career],” she joked.
The most enduring success of Aracy Balabanian is the socialite Cassandra, from the comedy show Sai de Baixo (1996-2002). The TV program was recorded at the Teatro Procópio Ferreira in São Paulo, with a live audience, which led the artists to deliver scenes full of improvisation. Many times, the actress couldn’t hold back her laughter during the dialogues.
Her last work on television was in 2019, in the year-end special Juntos a Magia Acontece.
Source: Agência Brasil