Glória Maria Cláudia Pires de Morais (; ; born 23 August 1963) is a Brazilian actress. 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. She is also known for starring in films such as Academy Award-nominated O Quatrilho, box-office hit If I Were You and its sequel, and Lula, Son of Brazil, which is the second most expensive Brazilian film of all time, after Nosso Lar.
In 2013, she was honoured by Forbes Brazil as one of Brazil's most influential persons, being ranked in the 28th position out of the 30 short-listed.
Early life Pires was born on 23 August 1963 in Rio de Janeiro. She is the daughter of producer Elza Pires and actor Antônio Carlos Pires. She has a sister named Linda Pires, a therapist. She is of Native Brazilian and Portuguese descent.
Career
1960s and 1970s 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. On her first day of shooting, however, she experienced a nasal hemorrhage and was removed from the telenovela. Later, when the lead actress Patrícia Ayres dropped out due to contractual reasons, Glória was given the chance to dub Ayres' voice.
In 1971, Glória did a screen test for the role of Zizi in the Globo telenovela O Primeiro Amor, but was rejected. In 1972 she made her debut in the network's Caso Especial episode "Sombra de Suspeita". That same year she made her telenovela debut starring in a minor role in Janete Clair's Selva de Pedra. In 1973 Glória landed a tiny role in Clair's O Semideus. She also acted alongside her father and Chico Anysio on the comedy program Chico City, broadcast on Rede Globo. She went on to act in several other comedy programs. 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. In 1977, disappointed with the roles offered to her, she decided to take a break from acting.
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. After much deliberation, she decided to take the screen test for the role. 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.
1980s In 1980, after she left the hospital, Glória decided to change her appearance, cutting and lightening her hair. Her next telenovelas were Água Viva and As Três Marias, an adaptation of Clarice Lispector's novel of the same name. She made a deal with Globo so that she could act in her first feature film after the end of this telenovela. 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. This was also Barreto's first feature film.
In 1982, Glória took a break from acting due to her first pregnancy. In 1983 she returned to telenovelas with Louco Amor as newly graduated journalist Cláudia. During this telenovela, Nelson Pereira dos Santos invited her to play Heloísa, Graciliano Ramos' wife, in his film Memoirs of Prison. This was her second collaboration with Fábio Barreto, who starred as Siqueira Campos. Glória attended the film's premiere alongside real life Heloísa. In 1984, she acted in the telenovela Partido Alto. 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. After she learned that Paulo José, the director of the mini-series, wanted to cast her as the main lead, Ana Terra, Glória convinced Globo's head director Daniel Filho that she could reconcile the shooting of the telenovela and the mini-series.
After O Tempo e o Vento, Glória starred in her second film, Francisco Ramalho Júnior's Besame Mucho, alongside Antônio Fagundes and José Wilker. She moved to São Paulo for two months with daughter Cléo Pires in order to shoot the film. In 1987 she starred in the telenovela Direito de Amar and in the film The Long Haul. 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.
1990s and 2000s In 1990, Glória starred in Mico Preto, followed by O Dono do Mundo. In 1993, after the birth of her second daughter, Glória starred in Mulheres de Areia playing twin sisters. She received the Troféu Imprensa Award for Best Actress for her performance. In 1994 she starred in the mini-series Memorial de Maria Moura, adapted from the Raquel de Queiroz' novel of the same name. It won Glória another award from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics and was shown in various international markets under the international title Merciless Land. In 1995 she starred in O Quatrilho, her third collaboration with Fábio Barreto. Glória received several best actress awards and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1996, Glória starred in O Rei do Gado with Patrícia Pillar, her co-star in O Quatrilho. In 1997 she starred as the main lead in Anjo Mau. It was one of the highest-rating telenovelas ever in the 6 p.m. timeslot. The following year, Glória moved to Los Angeles with her family to seek privacy. After living a whole year in California, Glória starred in Suave Veneno.
In 2000, Glória gave birth to her third daughter. The following year she starred in the film adaptation of A Partilha, a play by Miguel Falabella. Just like the play, the film was also a critical and commercial success. In 2002, Glória starred in Desejos de Mulher, one of the lowest-rating telenovelas in the history of Globo. The following year, she moved with her family to Goiás, the native state of her husband, living among a ranch and an apartment. In 2004, she gave birth to Bento, her fourth child and first son.
In 2005, Glória's father died of complications of Parkinson's disease. That same year she filmed Daniel Filho's If I Were You alongside Tony Ramos. It became one of the highest-grossing Brazilian films since the Retomada, selling more than 4 million tickets. After the flop of Desejos de Mulher, she returned to telenovelas with the 2005 hit Belíssima, alongside Fernanda Montenegro.
In 2007 she starred in the Daniel Filho-directed Primo Basílio, an adaptation of the José Maria de Eça de Queiroz novel Cousin Bazilio. The following year she starred opposite Tony Ramos in Paraíso Tropical. In early 2008, once again seeking privacy, she moved to Paris with her family. In 2009 she released Se Eu Fosse Você 2, which became the highest-grossing Brazilian film of the decade, and starred in Lula, Son of Brazil, a biopic about President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, marking her fourth collaboration with Fábio Barreto and the first with her daughter Cléo. She also starred in É Proibido Fumar.
2010s Glória announced that she would release her biography before returning to Paris on 8 March 2010. The book 40 Anos de Glória, written by Eduardo Nassife and Fábio Fabrício Fabretti, marked 40 years of her career.
In 2013, she starred in the movie Reaching for the Moon alongside Miranda Otto. That year she was also honoured by Forbes Brazil as one of Brazil's most influential persons, being ranked in the 28th position out of the 30 short-listed.
Personal life In the 1970s, Glória dated Chico Anysio's son Nizo Neto.
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. She has been married to singer Orlando Morais since April 1988, with whom she had Antônia Morais (born 7 August 1992), Ana (born 10 July 2000), and Bento (born 4 October 2004).
Filmography Film Year Film Role1973 Robin Hood Sis (Dubbing, Brazilian version only)1981 Índia, a Filha do Sol Put'Koi 1984 Memoirs of Prison Heloísa Ramos 1987 Besame Mucho Olga1988 The Long Haul Sandra1995 O Quatrilho Pierina1996 O Guarani Isabel1997 Pequeno Dicionário Amoroso Bel 2001 A Partilha Selma 2006 If I Were You Helena / Cláudio2007 Primo Basílio Juliana2008 Se Eu Fosse Você 2 Helena / Cláudio2009 É Proibido Fumar Baby2010 Lula, Son of Brazil Dona Lindu2013 Reaching for the Moon Lota de Macedo Soares2014Irmã DulceDona Dulce Maria2015 Linda de Morrer Dr. Paula 2015 Pequeno Dicionário Amoroso 2 Bel2016Nise: The Heart of MadnessNise da Silveira2021Mise en Scène: a Artesania do ArtistaNarrator2022A SuspeitaLúcia Carvalho2023Desapega!Rita2024Vovó NinjaVovó 2025SexaBárbara2026If I Were You 3Helena
Television Year Title Role 1968 A Pequena Órfã Glorinha 1972 Caso Especial Ângela1972–1973 Selva de Pedra Fátima "Fatinha"1972Chico em Quadrinhos Glorinha 1973–1980 Chico City Various characters1973–1974 O Semideus Ione 1976–1977 Duas Vidas Letícia 1978–1979 Dancin' Days Marisa de Sousa Matos 1979 Cabocla Zulmira de Oliveira "Zuca" 1980 Água Viva Sandra Fragonard1980–1981 As Três Marias Maria José "Jô" 1983 Louco Amor Cláudia 1984 Partido Alto Celina 1985 O Tempo e o Vento Ana Terra 1987 Direito de Amar Rosália Alves Medeiros 1988—1989 Vale Tudo Maria de Fátima Aciolli 1990 Mico Preto Sarita 1991–1992 O Dono do Mundo Stella Maciel Barreto 1993 Mulheres de Areia Ruth Araújo Assunção / Raquel Araújo Assunção 1994 Memorial de Maria Moura Maria Moura 1996–1997 O Rei do Gado Rafaela Berdinazzi / Marieta Berdinazzi 1997–1998 Anjo Mau Nice Noronha 1999 Suave Veneno Maria Inês / Lavínia de Alencar Cerqueira 2002 Desejos de Mulher Júlia Moreno 2005–2006 Belíssima Júlia Assunpção2006Casseta & Planeta, Urgente!Various characters 2007 Paraíso Tropical Lúcia Vilela Cavalcanti 2011 Insensato Coração Norma Pimentel Amaral 2012 As Brasileiras (Episode : "A Mamãe da Barra") Ângela Cristina2012–2013 Guerra dos Sexos Roberta Carneiro Leone 2014 A Grande Família Herself / Nenê (Special appearance in the last episode) 2015 Babilônia Beatriz Amaral Rangel 2016OscarComentarist 2016–2017 Segredos de Justiça Andréa Pachá 2017–2018 O Outro Lado do Paraíso Elizabeth Mello de Monserrat "Beth" / Maria Eduarda Feijó "Duda"2019Mulheres FantásticasNarratorAs Vilãs que AmamosHerself 2019–2020 Éramos Seis Eleonora Abílio de Lemos "Dona Lola" 2022 Além da Ilusão Nise da Silveira 2023–2024 Terra e Paixão Irene La Selva
Awards and nominations Over the 40 years of her professional career, Glória Pires has won numerous awards. In 1979 she won the São Paulo Association of Art Critics Award () for Most Promising Television Actress for Dancin' Days. 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. In 1995 Glória won the Havana Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in O Quatrilho. In 1996 she received the APCA trophy for Best Film Actress for O Quatrilho, a feat she would repeat in 2010 with É Proibido Fumar. In 2009 Glória won the Festival de Brasília Best Actress Award for her performance in É Proibido Fumar.