Domingos Montagner Filho (26 February 1962 – 15 September 2016) was a Brazilianactor, playwright and entrepreneur. He began his career in theaters and circuses, through the course of interpretation of Myriam Muniz. In 1997, Montagner formed La Mínima group, alongside Fernando Sampaio, and won the Shell Award for Best Actor. In 2003, he founded the Zanni Circus, of which he was artistic director.
He began his career on TV, three years later, but gained national notoriety after portraying Captain Herculano in the soap operaCordel Encantado (2011), Mundo inJoia Rara (2013), and Miguel inSete Vidas (2015). In cinema, he participated in the feature filmGonzaga: de Pai pra Filho (2012). He became "one of Brazil's most loved TV actors."[3]
In 2016, Montagner portrayed Santo dos Anjos, the protagonist of the soap operaVelho Chico, broadcast byRede Globo, his last work. In a break between filming, he drowned while swimming in theSão Francisco River, the main setting of the aforementioned television drama.[4][5]
Montagner was born in São Paulo's neighborhood ofTatuapé in a family ofItalian Brazilians.[6] He began working at sixteen in the bar of his parents in Tatuapé, where he worked as an office boy and archivist in an engineering company. Slender, at 6 ft 3 in (1.90 m) tall, he became an athlete of theSport Club Corinthians Paulista playinghandball.[7]
Montagner was asecond lieutenant in theBrazilian Army and after leaving military service graduated inphysical education, teaching in the 1980s in public and private schools in São Paulo. It was nearly eleven years later when he began his artistic career at 27.
His artistic career began in the circus, in his theater company La Mínima in 1980. In 1990, Montagner joined the theater as a clown.
Montagner became a star of Brazilian television despite the fact that his first major television role did not come until he was 46.[9] His first television series wasCordel Encantado ofRede Globo. He made a few appearances on the television showsForça-Tarefa andA Cura. He also participated in the showDivã, portraying Carlos Alencar, the lover of the protagonist Mercedes, played by actressLília Cabral. In 2012, he played the role of President Paulo Ventura in the miniseriesO Brado Retumbante.[10] In the same year, he played inSalve Jorge the Turkish tour guide Zyah, who falls in love with Bianca,Cléo Pires' character.[11] In 2013, he played the role of the activist Mundo inJoia Rara.[12]
In 2015, he was cast as the protagonist ofSete Vidas, in the role of Miguel, a man who discovers that he has seven children, after being asperm donor.[13][14][15][16][17]His last performance was in 2016 in the soap operaVelho Chico, interpreting the character Santo dos Anjos.
Married since 2002 to Luciana Lima, administrative producer of La Mínima group, Montagner claimed that his wife would encourage him the most.[18] In 2013, the family moved toRio de Janeiro,[18] but settled inEmbu das Artes, inGreater São Paulo, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the capital, in a quiet fenced residential condominium with their three sons.[19]
On 15 September 2016, during the lunch break of the filming for Velho Chico, Montagner jumped into the São Francisco River, in the city ofCanindé de São Francisco, state ofSergipe, but did not return to the mainland. ActressCamila Pitanga was swimming with Montagner and saw him disappearing into the water, dragged by a strong current. She screamed for help, being initially mistaken as if she was filming a scene. After realizing that the actress was screaming out of panic, the crew immediately stood up to check what was happening, as a boat came to rescue her. Montagner went missing for four hours until his body was found submerged and lifeless.[20][21] According to reports the Legal Medical Institute (IML) of Sergipe, the result of theautopsy performed Montagner's body pointed out that the actor died ofmechanical asphyxia bydrowning.[22]
The Brazilian version of online magazineThe Intercept speculated that the strong currents where the actor drowned were caused by the hydroelectric dam, theXingó Dam, upstream.[23] The dam lies approximately two kilometers upstream, and the flow rate allowed through the dam can affect currents.
At the time of his death, the filming of Velho Chico was just a few days from completion. However, climactic scenes for the finale, in which Montagner was the main character, hadn't been filmed yet. Production decided to complete the job as scheduled. Scenes in which Montagner's character, Santo, would have appeared would be shot from the character'spoint of view. Thus, Santo would be present in the scene, but would not be seen.[24]
Weeks prior to the casualty,Rede Globo aired a scene where Santo would be saved by Indians, who found him unconscious floating on the São Francisco River, having been shot by his enemy. The river was the same where the actor lost his life.[25]
^Nogueira, Amanda; Pessoa, Gabriela Sá; Menezes, Danielle (15 September 2016)."Domingos Montagner é encontrado morto submerso no rio São Francisco" [Domingos Montagner is found dead submerged in the São Francisco River].Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved17 September 2016.
^"A Noite dos Palhaços Mudos" [The Night of the Dumb Clowns].Porta Curtas (in Portuguese). Retrieved17 September 2016.
^Novais, Fernando (18 May 2014)."A Grande Vitória" [The Great Victory].Mundo Blá! (in Portuguese). Archived fromthe original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved17 September 2016.
^Alves Jr., Dirceu."A Noite dos Palhaços Mudos" [The Night of the Dumb Clowns].Veja São Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved17 September 2016.
^"Mistero Buffo".Mostra de Teatro Panorama Petrobras Distribuidora de Cultura (in Portuguese). Archived fromthe original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved17 September 2016.
