Typecast as the prototypical "South American rogue," the Brazilian actor Jece Valadão contributed onscreen performances to well over 100 Portuguese-language feature films and television programs (106, to be exact) from the late '40s through the mid- to late 2000s. Born circa 1930 in rural Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, southeastern Brazil, Valadão debuted in the 1949 Carnaval no Fogo (aka Carnival of Fire), directed by Watson Macedo. The actor quickly cultivated the onscreen image of a brash-talking, girl-slapping, take-no-nonsense thug. Valadão's most important work was undoubtedly Rio, 100 Degrees F. (1955), by director Nelson Pereira dos Santos, now regarded by many film historians as one of the forerunners of Cinema Novo. Amid a still-hectic film and television schedule, the 76-year-old Valadão died of kidney and breathing problems, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 29, 2006. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide