The actor, director and carnival specialist Haroldo Costa died at the age of 95 this Saturday (13). The information was confirmed by his family on the social networks of the artist and cultural producer, recently hospitalized to treat health problems due to his age.
During more than seven decades of his career, Costa contributed to the valorization of black culture, using it in the fight against racism, as well as to the exaltation and recording of the memory of samba as Brazilian heritage.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Costa was linked to the Teatro Experimental do Negro, an important group founded by Abdias do Nascimento in the 1940s. There he began almost by chance, replacing a colleague in the staging of the play “O Filho Pródigo”, by Lúcio Cardoso, in 1947. He would become close to figures like Ruth de Souza and Milton Gonçalves.
Later, he was the first black actor to play Jesus in a production of “O Auto da Compadecida,” by Ariano Suassuna. He starred in “Orfeu da Conceição”, by Vinicius de Moraes, in what was one of his most notable roles, in addition to being the first black to perform at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.
In the cinema, he directed only one film, “Pista de Grama”, in 1958, with Paulo Goulart and Yoná Magalhães, where he also took advantage of his proximity to bossa nova musicians to include as the theme of the film “Eu Não Existo sem Você”, by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. In the film, Elizeth Cardoso appears singing alongside João Gilberto, a rare appearance for them in a work of fiction.
He starred in the films “O Pagador de Promessas”, in 1962, and “Xica da Silva”, in 1976.
On TV Globo he directed musicals and auditorium programs, with names such as Dercy Gonçalves, Chacrinha and Moacyr Franco, and participated in the series “Chiquinha Gonzaga”, in 1999.
Costa devoted himself to Carnival, writing important books on the festival and samba, such as “Cem Anos de Carnaval no Rio de Janeiro” and a biography of Salgueiro, “Salgueiro – 50 Anos de Glória”.
In the book, he recounts each school carnival since its creation on March 5, 1953, with the union of several small groups from the favela of the same name on Tijuca Hill. Alongside the stories are the lyrics and full scores of all the sambas, as well as photographs showing the work of the school.
In 2023, Costa participated in the selection of works for the exhibition “Heitor dos Prazeres é Meu Nome”, at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro.
He was the subject of a short documentary by Silvio Tendler in 2015, “Haroldo Costa, our Orfeu”, which looks back on his journey.
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