Doris Monteiro

Dóris Monteiro had over 50 years of a career filled with success, both as a singer and as an actress. One of the earliest singers to interpret the bossa nova, Monteiro recorded over 20 solo LPs. At 13 (in 1947), Dóris Monteiro had her debut on radio in the novice show Papel Carbono at Rádio Nacional. She won the weekly contest for several weeks in a row. The next year she started to work regularly on Rádio Tupi. In 1951 she recorded her first album, the 78 Se Você Se Importasse (Peter Pan), which stayed in first place in the charts for three months. Embracing the first wave of bossa nova without quitting her main vein, the samba-canção, she had several other big hits: "Agulha no Palheiro,'' "Graças a Deus" (Fernando César), "Mocinho Bonito" (Billy Blanco), "Gostoso É Sambar" (João Melo), "Samba de Verão" (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sérgio Valle), "Mudando de Conversa" (Maurício Tapajós/Hermínio Bello de Carvalho), "Dó-Ré-Mi" (Fernando César), "Joga a Rede No Mar" (Fernando César/Nazareno de Brito), "Apelo" (Baden Powell), "Palhaçada," "É isso Aí," and "Alô Fevereiro." Her success also took her to the cinema. She starred in Agulha no Palheiro (Alex Viany) and was selected as Best Actress of 1953. She worked in seven other films, including the Italian production Copacabana Palace. In 1955 she had a season in the Cassino de Punta del Este (Uruguay) and in 1957, she performed as a duo with Dorival Caymmi in Lisbon and Coimbra (Portugal). In October 1990 Monteiro performed in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. In Japan, she was invited by Lisa Ono to record "Praia Nova" (Lisa Ono/Paulo César Pinheiro), for the compilation Bossa Nova Underground. Dóris Monteiro continued to perform into the next millennium. She died on July 24, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 88. ~ Alvaro Neder