Carlos Coimbra

Carlos Coimbra was born in Campinas, SP, Brazil in 1925; he began his career in movies as an extra. Later on he worked as a producer, screenwriter and as a director from the 1950s to the 1970s, becoming known for his movies about 'cangaço' (bandit groups from the Brazilian Northeast that were active between 1880-1940 - some of them became legendary in popular culture, as they were feared or even revered by many across the Northeastern states). His most known movie was Independência ou Morte (1972) about Pedro I (played by Tarcísio Meira) who became Brazil's first emperor upon declaring independence from Portugal in 1822 and his scandalous affair with the Marquise of Santos (played by Glória Menezes). Despite the social/political comments in the storyline, the movie was not censored by the strict military government of the time. In 1997, Carlos Coimbra returned to the movie sets with the remake of "O Cangaceiro". However due to health problems he had to abandon the project, which ended up being directed by Anibal Massaini Neto. Carlos was taken to the Santa Casa de Misericórdia hospital in São Paulo on Feb 13, 2007 after feeling ill. He was diagnosed with an acute thrombosis in the lower parts of the body, and emergency surgery ensued. He died of an aneurysm in the abdominal section of the aorta artery after 7 hours on the surgical table. His ex-wife and daughter live in the USA and he also left a son, Cláudio, who lives in Rio de Janeiro.