Xuxa

Xuxa (real name Maria da Graça Meneghel) born March 27 1963 in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul is a Brazilian television actress and singer. She is a children's television show host and has had shows in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. In 1993, Xuxa's show, Xuxa, premiered in English syndication but was cancelled soon thereafter in 1994.

Actress

Xuxa is also an actress, and together with comedy group Os Trapalhões she has the 9 biggest Box Office hits in Brazilian history.

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She had guest roles in four of these films, before having her own show, and with these movies she became known among kids (she was already a celebrity and a sex symbol).

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In 1988, her peak, she did the highly successful movie 'Super Xuxa Contra o Baixo Astral', that featured her hit song 'Arco-Íris' (Rainbow), a hit in the whole Latin America. It was the biggest Box Office sell-out of the year.

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In 1989 she starred for the first time in a movie with Os Trapalhões in A Princesa Xuxa e Os Trapalhões (Princess Xuxa and The Messed-Up Guys), which was another hit. The following year, she starred in two movies: Xuxa e os Trapalhões em 'O Mistério de Robin Hood (Xuxa and The Messed-Up Guys in 'The Mistery of Robin Hood') and Lua de Cristal (Crystal Moon) her biggest box office hit ever, which spawned the hit single 'Lua de Cristal'.

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It was her last movie for a while, until 1999 with Xuxa Requebra (Xuxa in Shake It), a movie that was a critical flop but a big hit with the audience. Targeted at teenagers, the movie was still a hit with the audience and next year, a movie in the same style (no story line, lots of advertisements, lots of popular actors/groups/singers making cameos) was made: XUXA in POPSTAR.

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Then, in 2001 she did her first children's movie for twelve years, Xuxa e os Duendes. A fantasy movie, it not only had lots of cameos, but also a storyline, and no advertisements, a first for Xuxa's movie. The movie was a hit and a sequel was made for the following year.

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In 2003 she did another fantasy movie, Xuxa em Abracadabra and in 2004, Xuxa e o Tesouro da Cidade Perdida (Xuxa and the Treasure of the Lost City). As of 2005, Xuxa is about to release her first animated movie.

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