He was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he lived and worked, having started his career in the 1980s as a writer for satirical magazine Casseta Popular.

One of the most popular Brazilian comedians of his generation, the overweight Bussunda was famous for his impersonations of football striker Ronaldo and of Brazil's president Lula.

Besserman also said the word was a contraction of "two of my favorite things, but don't call me 'Bundeta'" (reference to "buceta" and "bunda" – in Portuguese, vulgar slang for vagina and buttocks respectively), though this meaning is assumed to be a backronym.

Bussunda died of a heart attack in a hotel in the neighbourhood of Parsdorf in Vaterstetten, a suburb of Munich, Germany, where some members of Casseta & Planeta accompanied the Brazil national team at the World Cup, for a series of TV shows.

His body was flown from Germany back to Rio de Janeiro, where funeral services were held at the C.R.