Brazilian comedy actor Paulo Gustavo died of complications from Covid-19 on Tuesday evening, after a two-month battle with the disease. He was 42.
Mr. Gustavo was admitted to an intensive care unit in Rio de Janeiro on March 13 and required intubation one week later. Since early in April, he had been kept alive by an artificial lung used only in extremely severe pulmonary infections. Last weekend, he contracted air embolisms in his lungs — which spread to his nervous system, leading doctors to call his condition “unstable” and “irreversible.”
In May 2020, the actor had shown concern about the coronavirus’ severity during an interview. “I’m very scared of what I hear people say … medicine still doesn’t know exactly how the virus reacts inside each person.”
Besides having suffered from asthma earlier in life, he had no prior health conditions, serving as an example of the current infection wave in Brazil which is claiming younger and younger victims.
Paulo Gustavo’s comedy is popular throughout Brazil, dealing with everyday family issues and using humor to address the struggles LGBT people face to gain acceptance in Brazilian society — largely based on his own experience as a bisexual man in Rio de Janeiro.
He led a number of hit cable TV shows and starred in feature films which are among the highest-grossing ever in Brazilian cinema history.
Minha Mãe É Uma Peça 3 sold BRL 143.8 million (USD 26.4 million) at the box office — more than Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker grossed in Brazil.
He is survived by his husband, dermatologist Thales Bretas, and their sons Gael and Romeu.
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