Two years after his birth, casinos were forbidden in Brazil by a presidential decree, and his family thus lost their primary means of survival.

His first professional opportunity came in the next year, when he was selected to join the cast of the play Reportagem de um Tempo Mau, a criticism of the military dictatorship that was ruling the country.

[2] Some of his most memorable roles are the playboy Mederiquis in the soap opera Estúpido Cupido (1976), the polygamous Quequé in the miniseries Rabo de Saia (1984), and the old man Barbosa, in the comic series TV Pirata (1988).

In November 1986 he premiered with Marco Nanini one of the most successful plays in Brazilian history, O Mistério de Irma Vap, directed by Marília Pêra.

The play was staged for 11 consecutive years and watched by more than 2.5 million people, setting a Brazilian record included in the Guinness Book.