Roberto Frota

Roberto Frota
Born	Roberto de Castro Moreira (1939-01-26)26 January 1939 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	24 September 2024(2024-09-24) (aged 85) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Occupations	Actor Director Producer Writer Theatre screenwriter
Years active	1969–2024
Children	3

Roberto de Castro Moreira (26 January 1939 – 24 September 2024), better known as Roberto Frota, was a Brazilian actor, director, producer, writer, and theatre screenwriter. He began his career in 1969.^[1]

Frota was born in Hospital Alemão, in the Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, at that point Brazil's capital. He was the first child of José Arthur da Frota Moreira and Zuleika de Castro Moreira. José Arthur was a lawyer who had been recently named a state attorney with the state of São Paulo and later became a federal deputy. Zuleika was a student of the National School of Fine Arts, as well as a painter and poet.^[1]

As a result of his father's work and political aspirations, his family later moved to the city of São Paulo. Roberto's younger brother Carlos was born when he was two years old. They lived in the Vila Mariana neighborhood until Roberto was fourteen, when his mother died; after this, both he and his brother moved to Rio de Janeiro.^[1]

His father later remarried, and when Roberto was 17, his half-sister Ana Silvia was born. His family moved back to São Paulo, but Roberto chose to remain in Rio de Janeiro, continuing his education at Andrews and Juruena colleges. In 1963, within a span of just 28 days, both his father and his brother died.^[1]

In 1968, he matriculated in theatre courses with Maria Clara Machado, founder of Teatro Tablado, leading to his acting and theatre directing debuts.^[1] He would go on to act professionally in around 50 plays, among those including Cemitério de Automóveis, Peer Gynt, Castro Alves Pede Passagem, O Interrogatório, Trair e Coçar, É Só Começar!, and O Cordão Umbilical.^[2] With a 1971 performance of Peer Gynt, he performed with Stênio Garcia, Jonas Bloch, Ariclê Perez, Ewerton de Castro, and Ricardo Blat.^[3]

He participated in various Brazilian television series such as: Tieta, Pedra sobre Pedra, Corpo Santo, Mulheres Apaixonadas, Riacho Doce, Ana Raio e Zé Trovão, Chiquititas, and A Terra Prometida. With films, he acted in A Queda e Sombras de Julho.^[1]

In 1992, wrote the original argument of the feature film If I Were You, which was a massive hit in Brazil. Frota later made his debut in literature with the book "Mão de Flor", through publisher Editora Viseu.^[1]

Roberto Frota began to travel throughout Brazil for 8 years with actor Marcos Wainberg, presenting performances of "Diálogo dos Pênis", considered a critical and public success.^[4]

In 1968, at 29 years old, Frota married his first wife, speech-language pathologist Ana Maria Frota, with whom he had two children, Verônica and Thiago.^[2] Frota later married actress Ângela Vieira, from 1983 to 1997, with whom they had a daughter: Nina.^[5][6] He was married again to lawyer Márcia Prado from 2008 to 2014.

After fighting lung cancer for more than a year, Frota died due to a bout of pneumonia in Rio de Janeiro, on 24 September 2024. He was 85.^[7]

• Roberto Frota at IMDb