She is best known for her roles in TV Globo telenovelas such as Dancin' Days, Vale Tudo, Mulheres de Areia and O Rei do Gado.

[5] Glória made her debut as an actress at the age of 5, on the telenovela A Pequena Órfã, broadcast on the now-defunct TV Excelsior.

She initially participated only in the show's opening sequence, but director Dionísio Azevedo would later cast her to play a minor character.

In 1976, Glória starred in Clair's Duas Vidas, where she learned a lot from senior actor Luiz Gustavo, who played her father in the series.

[6] In 1978, Glória learned from her father that director Daniel Filho was searching for an actress to play Sônia Braga's teenager daughter in his telenovela Dancin' Days.

The telenovela was a big hit and Glória won the Best Newcomer Award from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.

During the telenovela's original broadcast, she faced censorship from the Juvenile Court, which prohibited her from giving interviews based on her controversial opinions about the school system.

In June 1979 Glória landed the lead role in Cabocla opposite her husband Fábio Jr. She was unable to shoot the final scenes of the telenovela due to a severe stress crisis that kept her hospitalized for two weeks.

In 1981, Glória starred in Fábio Barreto's Índia, a filha do Sol as Putkoy, a Native Brazilian who falls in love with a white soldier played by Nuno Leal Maia.

During this telenovela, Nelson Pereira dos Santos invited her to play Heloísa, Graciliano Ramos' wife, in his film Memoirs of Prison.

The following year marked Globo's 20th anniversary, and the mini-series O Tempo e o Vento, an adaptation of Érico Veríssimo's novel of same name, was produced to celebrate it.

[6] After O Tempo e o Vento, Glória starred in her second film, Francisco Ramalho Júnior's Besame Mucho, alongside Antônio Fagundes and José Wilker.

In 1988, she postponed her honeymoon with second husband Orlando Morais in order to play Maria de Fátima, Regina Duarte's daughter and antagonist, in Vale Tudo.

The book 40 Anos de Glória, written by Eduardo Nassife and Fábio Fabrício Fabretti, marked 40 years of her career.

From 1979 to 1983 she was married to singer and actor Fábio Jr, father of her oldest daughter, Cléo Pires (born 2 October 1982), also an actress.

In 1989, 1992, and 1994, she won the APCA trophy for Best Television Actress for Vale Tudo, O Dono do Mundo, and Mulheres de Areia, respectively.