Author of the Diccionario do theatro portuguez (Dictionary of Portuguese Theatre), he was the husband of the actress Palmira Bastos.

In 1890, while managing the Teatro da Rua dos Condes in Lisbon, he gave a first role to Palmira Bastos.

In 1894 António Serrão Franco, who had purchased Lisbon's Teatro da Trindade, contracted an artistic society to run shows, and they appointed Sousa Bastos as director.

Under him, the resident troupe included performers such as Palmira Bastos and Mercedes Blasco and he would marry the former, 30 years his junior, in 1894.

[6] Sousa Bastos was the author of a detailed work, Diccionario do theatro portuguez (1908) in which actors and actresses, theatrical terms and 213 different theatres were described,[7][8] as well as of Carteira do Artista (1898).