[1][2] Leonardo Villar was born as Leonildo Motta[3] in Piracicaba, São Paulo, on 25 July 1923.

Villar died on 3 July 2020 at a hospital in São Paulo, of cardiac arrest, aged 96.

His first film role only came in 1962 as Zé do Burro in Anselmo Duarte's O Pagador de Promessas.

In 1965 he debuted on television in the TV Tupi telenovela A Cor de Sua Pele, which tells the story of an interracial relationship.

In 1972, he moved to Rede Globo, where he starred in successful shows such as Escalada and Estúpido Cupido.