José Celso Martinez Corrêa

He also co-wrote with Chico Buarque the 1968 play Roda Viva, which was targeted as pornographic and was censored during the military dictatorship. One of his final plays was Os Sertões, a trilogy adapting the book by Euclides da Cunha.

• Name — Zé Celso • Birth Name — José Celso Martinez Corrêa • Born — 30 March 1937 • Birthplace — Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil • Died — 6 July 2023 • Place of death — São Paulo, Brazil • Education — Law School, University of São Paulo (dropped out) • Occupation — Stage actor, director and playwright • Years Active — 1958–2023 • Notable Works — The Bacchae, Os Sertões, O Rei da Vela, Roda Viva • Movement — Anthropophagism • Website — https: teatroficina.com

Zé Celso was in a 40-year relationship with actor Marcelo Drummond. The couple married in June 2023, with a ceremony at Teatro Oficina. Zé Celso died in São Paulo on 6 July 2023, at the age of 86. He was hospitalized at Hospital das Clínicas, after a fire broke out in his apartment in the Paraíso neighborhood. Zé Celso was 53% burned and was under mechanical ventilation; his husband Marcelo, two visitors, and the couple's dog, who were also in the apartment, did not sustain burns, but were under observation at the hospital.