Antônio José Rodrigues Cavalcante (born March 8, 1962) is a Brazilian actor and comedian, who is known professionally as Tom Cavalcante.

Early life

Cavalcante was born in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil on March 8, 1962, as Antônio José Rodrigues Cavalcante.

Career

Cavalcante began his career in 1976, performing in bars in his home state of Ceará doing humor skits and impressions of various artists. In 1982, Tom went to Rio de Janeiro and asked for a job on television, but he was turned down. In 1984, he tried to participate in the SBT Show de Calouros talent show, but he was not selected by the production to perform on stage. In the same year, he got a job as a radio broadcaster at Rádio Verdes Mares, where he presented the comedy show Ligação Direta for five years. During the 1986 elections, he worked by opening political rallies with comic skits. In 1987, he presented the television newsprogrm VM Notícias, on the Rede Globo-affiliate TV Verdes Mares. In 1989, he met Chico Anysio, who invited him to return to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the Chico Anysio Show. With the program's end, he began to participate in another of Chico's shows: Escolinha do Professor Raimundo, where he played the drunkard João Canabrava, a character created by himself. In 1996, Daniel Filho invited him to participate in Sai de Baixo, playing the doorman Ribamar. From 1999 to 2001, he worked in Globo's comedy shows Zorra Total and Megatom.

Unsatisfied with his treatment by Globo, Cavalcante resigned from the station and signed with TV Record, where he presented his own program, Show do Tom, from 2004 to 2011. In 2013, Cavalcante and his family moved to the United States, where he worked on the short film Pizza Me, Mafia, directed by Gui Pereira. Cavalcante returned to Brazil in 2014, and made an appearance on Globo's Domingão do Faustão, eleven years after being banned by the station.

Since 2016, Cavalcante presented at Globosat's cable channel Multishow in the shows #PartiuShopping and Multi Tom, where he performed as several characters, among them Tomsonaro (an impression of president Jair Bolsonaro). He presented and hosted the show Todos os Toms in September 2019 at the Riomar Theater. and starred in the 2017 comedy film Os Parças.

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleNote(s)Type
1995TV Colosso Especial--TV movie
Xuxa Especial: Deu a Louca na FantasiaPríncipeFull-length film
2003Xuxa in AbracadabraNarrator
2005Xuxinha and Guto Against the Space MonstersDouglas WonderVoice role
2013Pizza Me MafiaJoe Calzone / Tom Calzone / Mama CalzoneNominated for and won an awardShort movie
2017Os ParçasToinho-Full-length film
2019Sai de Baixo: O FilmeRibamar / Jaula
2019Os Parças 2ToinhoPre-production

TV series

YearTitleRoleNote(s)
1987A Praça é NossaJoão Canabrava-
1990Escolinha do Professor Raimundo
1991Estados Anysios de Chico City-
1996Sai de BaixoRibamar
1999Zorra TotalPitbicha / Ribamar / João Canabrava
2000Megatom-
2004Show do Tom
2007Tela Class
Louca FamíliaTóla
2014Trair e Coçar é Só ComeçarPrimo
2015#PartiuShoppingGildo
Tomara que CaiaJoão Canabrava / Ribamar
2016Casa dos PolíticosPedro MiauMini-series
Multi Tom--
2018Tá no Ar: A TV na TVJoão Canabrava
Dra. DarciDra. Darci
2021LOL: Se Rir, Já EraPresenter

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryForResult
1992Troféu ImprensaBest NewcomerEscolinha do Professor RaimundoNominated
1992Troféu ImprensaBest Male ComedianEscolinha do Professor RaimundoWon (tied with Luiz Fernando Guimarães
1993Troféu ImprensaBest Male ComedianEscolinha do Professor RaimundoWon
2004Extra Television AwardsBest ComedianShow do Tom
2006Prêmio QualidadeBest Actor in a Comedy
2007
2008
2009Prêmio ContigoWon
2010Prêmio QualidadeNominated
2014Brazil CinefestBest Short MoviePizza Me Mafia
2015Oregon International Film AwardsWon

External links

  • at IMDb
  • (in Portuguese)