Maria das Graças

Maria das Graças is recognized for her supporting roles in Brazilian telenovelas and films, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. She gained notable recognition for playing Santa in the groundbreaking 1976 telenovela Isaura: Slave Girl (Escrava Isaura), one of the most successful Brazilian soap operas of all time, which was widely exported internationally. Notable film appearances include, Isaura: Slave Girl (1976), Caixa Alta (1989), and other appearances in Brazilian television and cinema. In 1978, she starred in Black Goddess (A Deusa Negra), a historical drama written and directed by pioneering Nigerian filmmaker Ola Balogun. The film was a rare, groundbreaking co-production between Nigeria and Brazil. It tells the story of a contemporary Nigerian man traveling to Brazil to fulfill a promise to his dying grandfather to trace their family's ancestral roots back to 18th-century Yorubaland. Her work contributed to the golden era of Brazilian telenovelas produced by Rede Globo and similar networks.