Ilva Niño

Ilva Niño Mendonça (November 15, 1933 – June 12, 2024) was a Brazilian actress, director, and theater teacher.^[1][2] Throughout an artistic career that spanned eight decades, she was particularly notable in television and theater, immortalizing numerous characters, many of whom represented women from the Northeast or domestic workers.^[3][4]

In 1957, she won the Best Actress award at the National Amateur Festival for her performance in the play O Auto da Compadecida by Ariano Suassuna as the ‘Baker's Wife’.^[5][6] From then on, she continued to act in a series of plays, founding the Luiz Mendonça Ninõ Theater of Arts, a tribute to her husband, actor and director Luiz Mendonça (who died in 1995), where she taught art classes for many years.^[7]

From the 1970s onwards, she became a regular feature in various soap operas and programs on TV Globo, playing maids, housewives, and women from the Northeast, helpful women with strong personalities, such as the long-suffering Alzira in Pecado Capital, the dreamer Cotinha in Sem Lenço, sem Documento (No Handkerchief, No ID, 1978), the grumpy Iara in Partido Alto (1984), the religious Sister Teresa in Terra Nostra (1999), the cangaceira Cândida in Cordel Encantado (2011), and Epifânia from Piauí in Cheias de Charme (2012). However, in 1985, she experienced one of the most memorable moments of her career, playing the submissive Mina in Roque Santeiro, a maid who suffered at the hands of her boss, Viúva Porcina, played by Regina Duarte, who yelled the catchphrase “Minaaaa!” every time she called the maid.

The actress was born in Pernambuco, in the city of Floresta, on November 15, 1933.^[1][8] She is a film and theater actress, but mainly a television actress. Ilva moved to Rio de Janeiro shortly after the military dictatorship of 1964.^[9] She was brought to television in the 1970s by author Dias Gomes.^[10] The actress is the widow of theater director Luiz Mendonça and is the mother of the late actor Luiz Carlos Niño.^[11]

Always playing supporting roles, Ilva Niño has had a long career in television, appearing in more than 30 soap operas and several series, all of which were broadcast by TV Globo. Among her many soap operas, she is still remembered today for her role as the maid Mina in Roque Santeiro, when the entertaining Viúva Porcina (Regina Duarte) immortalized the catchphrase “Miiiiiiiiiiinaaaaaa” whenever she needed the maid.^[12] Ilva is well known for almost always playing a maid in soap operas.^[12][13]

Her television debut came in 1971, acting in Bandeira 2, a soap opera by Dias Gomes in the 10 p.m. slot, playing Santa, one of the members of the family of migrants from the northeast of Brazil led by Severino (played by actor Sebastião Vasconcelos).^[14] She returned to the small screen three years later in Corrida do Ouro, where she played Jandira.^[15]

From then on, Ilva landed several roles in soap operas. In 1975, she played Filomena, the maid in Gabriela, and Alzira, the mother of the protagonist in Pecado Capital.^[16][17]

In 1977, she played one of the main maids in Sem Lenço, sem Documento, in which she played Cotinha, the eldest sister of the four maids, a very funny woman who was in love with the voice of a radio announcer.^[18] She then appeared in several productions on Rede Globo, such as Água Viva^[19], Jogo da Vida^[20], Lampião e Maria Bonita^[21], and Quem Ama Não Mata.^[22]

In 1984, she stood out in the prime-time soap opera Partido Alto, playing the gossipy Iara, the terror of the neighborhood, foul-mouthed and talkative, always present in the events of the soap opera.^[23] In 1985, she played the unforgettable Mina in Roque Santeiro.^[12]

She accumulated several other roles at TV Globo, such as: the welcoming Belmira in O Outro^[24], the long-suffering Mainha in Bebê a Bordo^[25], the cook Anésia in O Sexo dos Anjos^[26], the maid Naninha in Pedra Sobre Pedra^[9], and another maid, Neide, in Tropicaliente.^[27] In 1995, she joined the cast of Manoel Carlos' História de Amor, where she played the cook Chica, who worked for Rômulo Sampaio (Cláudio Corrêa e Castro) and Zuleika Sampaio (Eva Wilma).^[28] In 1996, she made a special appearance in O Rei do Gado as Joana.^[29] In 1997, she appeared in Por Amor as the housekeeper Dalva.^[30]

In 1999, she appeared in two primetime soap operas, one after the other: Suave Veneno as Valdomiro's (José Wilker) maid, Zezé^[31], and Terra Nostra as the nun Teresa.^[32] She participated in the first phase of Aguinaldo Silva's soap opera Porto dos Milagres in 2001.^[33] She made a special appearance in the 2002 season of Malhação.^[34]

After special appearances in Senhora do Destino, Alma Gêmea, and Pé na Jaca, she joined the cast of Walcyr Carrasco's soap opera Sete Pecados, playing the maid Marli.^{[35][36][37][38]}

In 2009, she played Ernestina, a sweet maid in Cama de Gato.^[39] In 2011, she returned to soap operas playing the cangaceira Cândida in Cordel Encantado.^[40][41] In 2012, she played Epifânia in Cheias de Charme, in which she was the mother of the comical Socorro (Titina Medeiros) and was contacted by singer Chayene (Cláudia Abreu) to work as her personal midwife, until she discovered that her pregnancy was a hoax.^[42] In 2013, she was in the cast of Saramandaia, as the housekeeper Cleide.^[43]

In 2016, after three years away from TV recovering from intestinal cancer, she returned to acting in Malhação: Pro Dia Nascer Feliz, playing Damiana, the grandmother of the protagonist Joana.^[44]

Her last appearance in soap operas was a special guest role in Aguinaldo Silva's O Outro Lado do Paraíso in 2018.^[45]

She was the widow of playwright and theater director Luiz Mendonça, to whom she was married from 1957 to 1995.^[46] Together they had one son, actor Luiz Carlos Niño, who died in 2005 at the age of 40.^[47]

Ilva was also the director and teacher at the “Niño de Artes Luiz Mendonça” theater school, which she founded in 2003 in honor of her husband, and a theater teacher at Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, both in Rio de Janeiro.^[7]

In early 2014, Ilva took a break from her artistic work to treat intestinal cancer, from which she recovered in 2016.^[48]

She died on June 12, 2024, at the age of 90.^[48] The actress had been hospitalized since May 13 at Quali Hospital in Ipanema neighborhood, after undergoing heart surgery to treat respiratory, digestive, and kidney complications, which culminated in multiple organ failure.^[49][50][51]