Google Doodle Celebrates - Jorge Lafond's 71st Birthday | 29-March
Today's Doodle honours Brazilian actor, drag queen, comedian, and dancer Jorge Lafond on his 71st birthday. On this day in 1952, Jorge Luiz Souza Lima was born in Rio de Janeiro.
Jorge understood he was homosexual at a very young age and attempted to conceal this during his teens. He never concealed his passion for dancing. He studied classical ballet and African dance before graduating from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro with a degree in performing arts. He began dancing in nightclubs and cabarets, then toured the United States and numerous European nations for ten years as a member of a folk group.
In 1974, one of his first television roles was as a dancer for the Globo TV programme Fantástico. After his television debut, he appeared in a number of episodes, including Viva o Gordo, Sassaricando, and Kananga do Japan. As his fame grew on television, he was quickly cast in a number of films and garnered acclaim for his performances in Rio Babilônia, Sonhei com Você, and Bar Esperança.
Lafond began publicly practising his drag artistry in 1992 as the character Vera Vero on the SBT programme A Praca é Nossa. Jorge was thrown in the spotlight by the witty Vera, but he was not always invited to be his full honest self. Being an openly gay man who wore unconventional apparel, Jorge was unwelcome in many places.
Nonetheless, Lafond was a trailblazer who pushed new identity representation into culture, thereby aiding in the destruction of archaic, homophobic ways of thinking. He was and still a role model for LGBT men in South America and the rest of the world. He displayed his talents in dancing, fashion, and comedy without ever apologising for deviating from the conventional standards of an entertainer.
Birthday greetings to Jorge Lafond! Thank you for demonstrating how to be our authentic selves in the world.