Santos first performed at the age of 16 in the town of
Beja. She debuted professionally at the age of 17, in 1886, at the
Teatro dos Recreios, in the French comedy
Maris qui pleurent (Husbands who cry), translated into Portuguese by Maximiliano de Azevedo. When the
Teatro dos Recreios was demolished, she moved to the
Teatro do Rato. She would then successively work in the
Teatro da Alegria,
Teatro Avenida,
Teatro da Rua dos Condes,
Teatro do Ginásio,
Teatro da Trindade and the
Teatro São Luiz. Santos excelled in operettas, comic operas,
farce and
vaudeville. She worked with most of the famous theatre companies of the time, including the
Rey Colaço-Robles Monteiro Company, and the
Teatro da Trindade Company. In addition to seasons in Portugal's second city of
Porto, she toured in Brazil, Spain and other parts of Portugal. When unable to obtain a professional position, she would act in amateur dramatics. Her last performance was the operetta
O Fado, which premiered on 4 April 1942 at the
Coliseu dos Recreios auditorium in Lisbon and ended a year later, at the
Coliseu do Porto, another large auditorium. In total, she worked for 14 companies and appeared in 62 shows. Santos made her film debut in 1909 in the silent film
A Viúva Alegre (The Happy Widow). Her first sound film and most well-known film was
A Canção de Lisboa (The Song of Lisbon) in 1933, where she played the aunt of the actor
Vasco Santana. Several of her films were made in Brazil. ==Death==