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Actor

1940-02-22 · Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil · Female

45 series in the catalog

Aracy Balabanian (Armenian: Արասի Բալաբանյան; 22 February 1940 – 7 August 2023) was a Brazilian actress of Armenian descent. With a career spanning more than six decades, she was one of the longest serving and most prominent actresses in the history of Brazilian theatre and television. She was particularly known for her work in comedy and television drama, as well as for her memorable character Dona Armênia in the telenovelas Rainha da Sucata (1990) and Deus nos Acuda (1992–1993). Balabanian also became widely known for playing Cassandra in the comedy series Sai de Baixo.

Biography

Aracy Balabanian was born in Campo Grande, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, to Armenian immigrants Raphael and Esther Balabanyan, who fled Nor Hachn and settled in Brazil after surviving the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks.

Her parents originally wanted to name her Arax (Արաքս), after the river, but ultimately decided to honor their new homeland instead. Aracy is a Brazilian name of Tupi origin meaning "daybreak" or, literally, "mother of the day."

At the age of fifteen, she moved to São Paulo with her parents and helped raise her seven younger brothers. She passed the entrance exam for Social Sciences and for the Escola de Arte Dramática, coming to abandon the studies of Sociology, another entrance exam that she had taken and had been accepted, to devote herself to the theater. She said that she lived in a time when it was considered ugly for a woman to do theater since women were formerly educated to be housewives and obey their husbands.

Balabanian died in Rio de Janeiro on 7 August 2023, at the age of 83.

Television series

Vila Sésamo (1972–1974).... Gabriela

Aplauso (1979).... Angélica

Caso Especial (1993–1994)

Você Decide (1994)

Engraçadinha... Seus Amores e Seus Pecados (1995).... Dona Geninha

Sai de Baixo (1996—2013).... Cassandra Mathias Salão

Brava Gente (2001)

Linha Direta Justiça (2003)

Casos e Acasos (2008).... Amélia

Queridos Amigos (2008).... Teresa Fernandes Moretti

Toma Lá, Dá Cá (2008).... Shafika Sarakutian

Louco por Elas (2012).... Cândida

Juntos a magia acontece (2019)

Telenovelas

Marcados Pelo Amor (1964)

O Amor Tem Cara de Mulher (1966)

Um Rosto Perdido (1966)

Angústia de Amar (1967)

Meu Filho, Minha Vida (1967)

Sublime Amor (1967)

Antônio Maria (1968)

Nino, o Italianinho (1969)

A Fábrica (1971).... Isabel

O Primeiro Amor (1972)

Corrida do Ouro (1974)

Bravo! (1975)

O Casarão (1976)

Locomotivas (1977).... Miena Cabral

Pecado Rasgado (1978)

Coração Alado (1980).... Maria Faz-Favor

Brilhante (1981)

Elas Por Elas (1982)

Guerra dos Sexos (1983)

Transas e Caretas (1984)

Ti Ti Ti (1985)

Mania de Querer (1986)

Helena (1987)

Que Rei Sou Eu? (1989).... Maria Fromet/Lenore Gaillard

Rainha da Sucata (1990).... Dona Armênia (Arakel Tchobanian Giovani)

Felicidade (1991)

Deus Nos Acuda (1992).... Dona Armênia (Arakel Tchobanian Giovani)

Pátria Minha (1994)

A Próxima Vítima (1995).... Filomena Ferreto

Sabor da Paixão (2002)

Da Cor do Pecado (2004)

A Lua Me Disse (2005)

Eterna Magia (2007)

Passione (2010).... Gemma Mattoli

Cheias de Charme (2012)

Saramandaia (2013).... Dona Pupu (Eponina Camargo)

Geração Brasil (2014)

Ligações Perigosas (2016)

Sol Nascente (2016)

Pega Pega (2017)

Malhação: Vidas Brasileiras (2018)

Cinema

A Primeira Viagem.... Irene (1975)

Caramujo-Flor.... Woman in black (1998)

Policarpo Quaresma, Herói do Brasil.... Maricota (1998)

Theatre

1963 – Os Ossos do Barão

1966 – Oh, Que Delícia de Guerra

1968 – Feira Paulista de Opinião

1969 – Hair

1977 – Brecht, segundo Brecht

1980 – À Direita do Presidente

1985 – Boa Noite, Mãe

1985 – Time and the Conways

1988 – Folias no Box

1991 – Fulaninha e Dona Coisa

1995 – Noite Feliz

1998 – Clarice, Coração Selvagem

2006 – Comendo Entre as Refeições

APCA Awards

Best of the Year – Globe Awards

Contigo! Awards