Cláudia Celeste: Google Doodle celebrates the first Brazilian transgender actress

Google Doodle celebrates Cláudia Celeste, the first transgender actress to show up in Brazilian telenovelas, on August 22, 2022. On this day in 1988, was the first time Cláudia first showed up in a role as a straightforwardly trans woman in the opening episode of “Olho por Olho”.

Who was Cláudia Celeste?

Born in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Vila Isabel in 1952, she was given the stage name Cláudia Celeste when Carlos Imperial watched her show “Once upon a time in Carnival”, at Teatro Rival, in 1973.

Cláudia Celeste began investigating her identity and talents while in the army. After serving, she procured her beauty diploma and became a hairdresser in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro when she was 20.

As indicated by her, daily life working at the salon inspired her decision to progress. That same year, she went with a companion to a theater audition and decided to perform too. She made her debut as a dancer on the stage of Beco de Garrafas.

Cláudia Celeste started her career as a dancer at the nightclub “Beco das Garrafas”. In 1973, a theater in Rio de Janeiro called Teatro Rival became the first to get a government license to perform “O Mundo é das Bonecas”. Celeste was invited as a lead close by other notable transgender actors. After the show’s prosperity, different productions recognized her talents and gave her amazing chances to dance in numerous nightclubs in Brazil.

In 1976, Cláudia Celeste decided to contend in the Miss Brazil Pop pageant and won the contest. After one year, she was invited to act in a soap opera called “Magic Mirror” after its director saw one of her performances at the Teatro Rival. Nobody in the cast or team realized she was transgender, and titles caused negative notice in the news after her first scene. The show was canceled soon after, and she moved to Europe to seek different opportunities.

In 1976, Cláudia Celeste was elected “Miss Brasil Trans” (at the time Miss Brasil Gay) and with the title, she caught the attention of producers who welcomed her to act in the 1975 film Motel.

In 1977, Daniel Filho invited Cláudia to partake in the telenovela Espelho Mágico, close by Sônia Braga, performing as a chorus girl in the nucleus where the characters worked in a theater. Her cooperation moved headlines in newspapers of the time, for example, “The first transvestite on TV” and it was through the press that Daniel Filho discovered that the dancer was a transsexual.

Cláudia Celeste had filmed different scenes, yet with the repercussion of the first that was aired, the direction of Globo decided not to broadcast different scenes, subsequently finishing her first performance in soap operas.

In 1982, she acted in two Brazilian movies: Beijo na Boca, by Paulo Sérgio de Almeida , and “Punk’s, Os Filhos da Noite”, by Levi Salgado.

After getting back to Brazil, Cláudia Celeste auditioned to star in a soap opera called “Olho por Olho” and won the role over 200 others. Her obligation to the character was unmatched, continually offering her important opinion on the script and narrative.

Despite the fact that she confronted discrimination by being removed from the cast when her trans identity was “found out” by the management, she pushed forward into new opportunities for the rest of her career, establishing her legacy as a pioneer who battled for the rights of transgender and LGBTQ+ performers all over.

In 1988, Cláudia Celeste acted, from start to finish, in the telenovela Olho por Olho, on Rede Manchete, in the role of the transvestite Dinorá. At this moment, she entered the history of Brazilian TV as the first transvestite working with a fixed character in a soap opera.

In theater, Cláudia Celeste acted in many shows like Gay Fantasy, from 1982, under the direction of Bibi Ferreira, Bonecas com Tudo em Cima and Febre.

The actress and dancer Cláudia Celeste died on May 13, 2018, from complications from pneumonia.

On August 22, 2022, Google featured a Doodle on its homepage for celebrating Cláudia Celeste. She won and organized numerous beauty pageants, and was likewise a singer, dancer, director, producer, and author.

Notwithstanding the obstacles and challenges she confronted, Cláudia Celeste became an inspiring figure who opened the door for future generations of transgender and LGBTQ+ talent in Brazil. This day in 1988, was the first time Cláudia showed up in a role as an openly trans woman in the opening episode of “Olho por Olho”.