Buza Ferraz

Alberto Paulo Ferraz (May 3, 1950 – April 3, 2010), known simply as Buza Ferraz, was a Brazilian actor and director.^[1][2][3]

Buza Ferraz was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1950.^[4][5] A director linked to group theater and collective creation in the 1970s and early 1980s, he founded and directed the groups Companhia Tragicômica Jaz-o-Coração and Pessoal do Cabaré.^[4][6]

He made his television debut in 1972, in the soap opera Selva de Pedra, broadcast by TV Globo and written by Janete Clair.^[7] That same year, he played Regina Duarte's Jewish fiancé in Caso Especial.^[4][8] In 1974, he appeared in Rede Globo's soap opera O Rebu, playing the character Cauê, with whom the millionaire Conrad Mahler, played by Ziembinski, was platonically in love.^[9] In the script, written by Bráulio Pedroso, the millionaire murders Cauê's girlfriend out of jealousy, which becomes the great mystery of the plot.^[10] But the story was censored by Military dictatorship.^[11] It was the first time that the main character in a Brazilian soap opera was homosexual, the first narrative to address the theme had been Assim na Terra como no Céu, with the character Rodolfo Augusto, played by Ary Fontoura.^[12][13][14]

In the 1980s, he appeared in the soap operas Brilhante and Final Feliz, as well as making guest appearances in series such as Carga Pesada.^[15][16][17] In 1984, he moved to Rede Manchete, where he participated in two miniseries, Marquesa de Santos and Santa Marta Fabril S.A..^[18][19] The following year, he returned to TV Globo to appear in Alcides Nogueira's soap opera De Quina pra Lua.^[20] In 1987, he returned to Manchete to work on the soap opera Helena.^[21] While at the station, she participated in the soap operas Kananga do Japão and Pantanal.^[22][23]

Back at Globo, he worked on the soap opera Pedra sobre Pedra and the miniseries Labirinto.^[24][25] He was also in the cast of História de Amor and Páginas da Vida, both written by Manoel Carlos.^[26][27][28] His last TV role was in the fifteenth season of the teen series Malhação, broadcast by Globo in 2008.^[29]

Together with Luiz Carlos Lacerda, he directed and wrote the screenplay for the film For All - O Trampolim da Vitória from 1997.^[30]

He had five children.^[5] He was a Botafogo soccer fan.^[31]

After suffering cardiac arrest in the early hours of April 3, 2010, he was taken to Samaritano Hospital in the Botafogo neighborhood, where he died.^[32][33] The actor suffered from leukemia, but the disease did not contribute to his death.^[34][35] His body was buried in the São João Batista cemetery in Rio.^[36]