Tony Ramos


Antônio de Carvalho Barbosa, best known by the artistic name Tony Ramos, is a Brazilian actor.
Ramos has played leading roles in major telenovela productions for more than four decades. Many of his most famous roles share the characteristics of honesty and morality. Many of Ramos' more recent starring roles in novelas have cast him playing non-Brazilians, including the Greek Nikos, the American Percival Farquhar, the Indian Opash, and the Italian Antonio Mattoli. Ramos is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and has some knowledge of Italian. Ramos' acting process does not involve internalizing the character's emotions; instead, he creates his characters using external technique.

Biography

Ramos was born in Arapongas, Paraná, the son of Maria Antonia Barbosa, a teacher. He spent his youth in the city of Avaré, in the country side of the Brazilian state São Paulo. Since he was a child, he expressed interest in acting and theater, drawing inspiration from Oscarito's films. Already in São Paulo, he made amateur theater while participating in the Teatro Cultura de São Paulo, where he staged plays for children. He holds a degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Career

Ramos is one of the most important actors in Brazil, especially known for his work in telenovelas. His use of an Anglicized first name was common at the time he began his acting career, and the name Ramos is the last name of a relative. Ramos was born in the country side of Paraná and spent his youth in Ourinhos in the country side of the state of São Paulo. As a boy, he dreamed of being an actor. When young Ramos watched the films of Oscarito, he wanted to be like him. Later, while living in São Paulo, he performed in amateur theater with the Teatro Cultura Artística de São Paulo. At 16 years old, he was part of the musical team “Tony e Tom & Jerry” that made an appearance on the TV show Jovem Guarda.
In 1964, he made his debut as an actor on television, appearing in skits on the program Novos em Foco, on the channel TV Tupi. The show served as a testing ground for rising young actors, and after signing with TV Tupi, he participated in TV de Vanguarda, TV de Comédia and Grande Teatro Tupi. In 1965, Ramos appeared in his first novela, A Outra..
While at TV Tupi, he appeared in various other productions, among them: Antônio Maria the novela that gave his career a major boost; Simplesmente Maria, in which he played his first major role ; Vitória Bonelli, as co-star with Tiago Bonelli; Rosa dos Ventos, his first role as male lead in a novela ; Ídolo de Pano, as the protagonist Luciano; and A Viagem , as the co-lead Téo.
In 1977, Ramos moved to Rede Globo, at the same time moving to Rio de Janeiro. At Rede Globo, he consolidated his success. His first performance for the network was in the novela Espelho Mágico. In the same year, he shared duties as host of the musical program Globo de Ouro with the actress Christiane Torloni. By the end of the year he was starring in the novela O Astro, in which he took his first lead role at Rede Globo. During the novela, Ramos appeared in the first male nude scene in Brazilian novelas, despite the censorship of the military dictatorship in power at the time.
In 1979, he starred in the novela Pai Herói. Afterwards, he joined the cast of the novela Chega Mais in the role of the grifter Tom, who despite the dubious nature of the character was the protagonist of the novela, beside Gelly, played by Sônia Braga. In 1981, he acted for the first time in a novela written by Manoel Carlos, playing the twins João Victor and Quinzinho in the novela Baila Comigo. His performance, in which he distinguished the two characters without resort to makeup, using techniques of voice and posture to define the characters, was acclaimed by the critics. Later, he co-starred in the novela Sol de Verão, in a sensitive portrayal of the deaf-mute Abel. In the novela Champagne, he played the son of a humble waiter, who had to fight to prove his father innocent of a false accusation of murder.
He began a sequence of lead roles in novelas, among them the mysterious Pardel in the novela Livre para Voar, the hitman Riobaldo in the historical novela Grande Sertão: Veredas, the ambitious Cristiano in the remake of Selva de Pedra, the muddled taxidriver Tonico in Bebê a Bordo, the engineer Jorge in the miniseries O Primo Basílio, the bankrupt millionaire Edu in Rainha da Sucata, the biologist João in the miniseries O Sorriso do Lagarto, and the lawyer Álvaro in Felicidade.
In 1993, he hosted some episodes of Você Decide while also participating in the novela Olho no Olho, in the role of Father Guido, who leaves the priesthood to fight a crime syndicate. In 1994,he participated in the pilot of the series A Comédia da Vida Privada. In 1995, he starred in the novela A Próxima Vítima. The next year he returned to host Você Decide, in addition to joining the regular cast of the series A Vida Como Ela É and starred in the novela Anjo de Mim.
In 1998, he was featured as one of the principal characters of the novela Torre de Babel as the ex-con Clementino, who begins the novela in prison for having murdered his wife after discovering that she was cheating on him, and who afterwards rehabilitates himself with the help of a new love. Next, he played the romantic bookseller Miguel in Laços de Família. In As Filhas da Mãe he played the Spaniard Manolo Gutierrez, owner of a casino.
In 2003, he played the musician Teo in the novela Mulheres Apaixonadas. Next, he co-starred in the remake of Cabocla, as Colonel Boanerges, and in 2005 worked in the miniseries Mad Maria, as the American impresario Percival Farquhar, and in the novela Belíssima, in which he played the Greek Nikos.
In 2007, he played impresario Antenor Cavalcanti in the novela Paraíso Tropical, a complex character of soaring ambition who cannot bring himself to become a villain. In 2009, he was in the featured cast of the award-winning novela Caminho das Índias, as the Indian Opash Ananda. In 2010, he starred as the Italian farmer Totó in the novela Passione, a role in which he blended Italian vocabulary into his speech for additional verisimilitude. The creator of the novela, Silvio de Abreu, wrote the role especially for him. In 2012 he appeared in a brief but pivotal role in the novela Avenida Brasil.
In addition to novelas, Ramos acted in more than 80 television movies and more than twenty plays. His debut in the theater came in 1969, with the play Quando as Máquinas Param, with Walderez de Barros. In the same year he appeared in Rapazes da Banda and in 1971, he appeared in Pequenos Assassinatos. In 1989 he appeared in the musical Meu Refrão Olê Olá, in homage to the 25 year career of the songwriter Chico Buarque, in which he played the transvestite Geni, and in 1997 he acted in the play Cenas de um Casamento in which he played opposite Regina Braga. Finally, in 2002 he played an ex-torturer police officer in the play Novas Diretrizes em Tempos de Paz.
Ramos starred in the movie O Pequeno Mundo de Marcos in 1968. Among other film productions, he acted in Leila Diniz, as the father of the title role actress. He won the best actor award at the Festival de Gramado for his role in Bufo & Spallanzani. One of his great box-office successes was Se Eu Fosse Você e Se Eu Fosse Você 2.
On May 7, 2009, Ramos received the medal of the Ordem de Rio Branco from the Ministry of Foreign Relations in recognition of his work in cinema, theater, and television. The award ceremony took place at the Palácio do Itamaraty, in Brasília, in which Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the first lady Marisa Letícia, and the minister for Foreign Relations Celso Amorim participated.

Personal life

Ramos is considered by his professional colleagues to be a person of integrity and good humor. In addition, he has one of the most stable marriages in the artistic community of Brazil: he married his wife Lidiane Barbosa in 1969. They have two children: Rodrigo, a doctor, and Andréa, a lawyer. Ramos is a practising Roman Catholic.

Filmography

Television