Amácio Mazzaropi

When people hear about Amácio Mazzaropi, the most common things that come to their mind are cinema, comedy and Jeca Tatu. However, he was more than just this idealized person that everyone imagines.

His childhood was full of changes, he moved from Taubaté to São Paulo and back to Taubaté in few years. The only two stable things were his facility to declaim poems and his good performance.

This last characteristic, took him to a circus company, called Circo La Paz. He travelled the state of São Paulo featuring jokes and anecdotes until 1932, at the constitutional revolution, when he debut his first play, “A herança do padre Jão”.

This was the start of the Troupe Mazzaropi, his own theater company. He walked the country with his family and actors, trying to make success and consequently failing until the day he arrives to São Paulo and receive well critical of famous people. For this reason, he was called to work every Sunday at Radio Tupi in Rio de Janeiro, becoming increasingly famous after a small time working there.

This time, Abílio Pereira de Almeida e Franco Zampari invited him to debut his first film, called “Sai da frente”. Thereafter he wrote and act on his own movies. Creating the PAM (Produção Amácio Mazzaropi) years later.

His most famous films are about Jeca Tatu, but the impressive thing that people doesn’t notice, is that he had to buy a farm to make his own studio for colored movies. Beginning with “A tristeza de Jeca” and following with many others.For more information about this incredible character, there is the Mazzaropi Museum, located on his old studios. People can visit there and learn details of his life.

Not only he changed the standard of Brazilian films, but also improved this growing area. He is considered the Brazilian Charles Chaplin for many, although he wasn’t famous wall around the world as the first one.