Manfried Sant'Anna OMC, best known as Dedé Santana (pronounced: deh-DEH san-TAN-nah), is a Brazilian actor, comedian, presenter, screenwriter, and filmmaker. In the 1984 Brazilian parody film Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz, Dedé Santana wrote, directed, and played Delegate Lion, an adaptation for the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 "The Wizard of Oz".
Biography[]
Manfried Sant'Anna was born to the clown Oscar Santana, better known by his circus name, Picolino, and the contortionist Ondina Santana, and was raised by a family descended from romani, among circus artists. He is the nephew of the late actor and comedian Colé Santana.
He entered his first circus show when he was just three months old, performing with his mother. The play was the drama Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In the arena, Dedé was a clown, na acrobat, a trapeze artist, na elephant tamer and even performed the “globe of death”. At this stage, he even played the clown Arrelia in the clown’s own circus, which was busy recording his program, "Circo do Arrelia".
He and his brother, Dino Santana, acted on television as a comedic duo called "Maloca e Bonitão" in 1965. Later, Dedé teamed up with comedian Renato Aragão and created another comedy duo that later with the addition of Mussum and Zacarias, they became the famous Brazilian quartet, Os Trapalhões.
Role as Delegate Lion[]
In Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz, Dedé Santana had been separated from Os Trapalhões for between 6 months to 1 year prior to the production of that film, that being the film that marked the group's return to the big screen after their separation. As the film was a parody of the 1939 MGM film, Delegate Lion was an adaptation for Cowardly Lion, serving the same role of a lion joining the main character to get courage.
