Epaminondas Xavier Gracindo (1943-05-21 to 2026-09-01), known to Brazil as Gracindo Júnior or Gracindo Jr., spent more than six decades proving that a famous surname can be a starting point rather than a ceiling. Born in Rio de Janeiro on 1943-05-21, he was the son of Paulo Gracindo (1911-1995), one of Brazilian radio and television's most beloved leading men, and Dulce Xavier de Araújo (IMDb). At fifteen he slipped into a Rádio Nacional audition against his father's wishes, then worked there as actor, writer and disc jockey in the late golden age of Brazilian radio. He studied psychology at university but never practiced, choosing the stage instead. Professional theatre debut came in the early 1960s (sources differ between 1961 and 1962) in A Escada, followed by musicals and classics including Os Fantástikos, A Megera Domada and O Burguês Fidalgo.
Politics briefly interrupted radio work: Memória Globo records that as a Communist Party militant he was among artists barred from radio after the 1964 military coup, alongside figures such as Dias Gomes and Mário Lago. Television was already open. He had worked at TV Rio, TV Excelsior and TV Tupi before joining Rede Globo's first contracted cast. In his Memória Globo interview he said he was already hired in December 1964, months before Globo's April 1965 launch, and he appeared in early novelas including Rosinha do Sobrado and Padre Tião.
The family name became a shared craft. In Dias Gomes's O Bem-Amado (1973) he played the hustler Jairo Portela while his father embodied mayor Odorico Paraguaçu. Three years later Lauro César Muniz's O Casarão cast father and son as the same painter, João Maciel, across timelines (1870 / 1926 / 1976), with Gracindo Jr. as the young artist opposite Sandra Barsotti and Paulo as the older Maciel. He later called it one of television's most finished ensembles of theatre-trained actors. After O Casarão he directed Millôr Fernandes's É... in Portugal, then returned to Globo to supervise the 6 p.m. novela nucleus (including rescue work on A Sucessora) and to direct Memórias de Amor, Marron Glacé, episodes of Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, early Fantástico music clips, and, in 1983-1984, the comedy juggernaut Os Trapalhões.
A Manchete chapter in the mid-1980s made him a romantic lead: Dom Pedro I in A Marquesa de Santos and Antônio Sampaio opposite Maitê Proença in Dona Beija, a pairing Brazilian audiences still cite. Back at Globo he played villains and husbands in Mandala, O Salvador da Pátria (again with Proença), Deus Nos Acuda, Explode Coração (acting, then directing the Roma/gypsy nucleus), Celebridade (bitter Ubaldo Quintela), and the Casablanca-tinged Ramón García in Aquarela do Brasil. Record later cast him as King Saul in Rei Davi (2012) and in Cidadão Brasileiro and Poder Paralelo. Portuguese TVI's Ouro Verde (2017) was among his last novela credits; film work included John Boorman's The Emerald Forest (1985), Trapalhões features, Primo Basílio, and a late role in A Queda (2022).
Theatre never left him. He wrote, directed and starred in the homage Paulo Gracindo, Meu Pai (1981), directed his father's final stage shows, and kept producing and acting into the 2010s (Judy Garland - O Fim do Arco-Íris, Os Canastrões with his children). In interviews he praised theatre as artisan work against television's industrial scale, while still treating TV as serious craft learned from his father: responsibility, esteem for the job, solidarity.
He married Dayse (Daisy) Poli in 1976; the marriage, briefly interrupted in the early 1980s, lasted more than five decades. Children include actors Gabriel Gracindo and Pedro Gracindo (with Poli), actress Daniela Duarte (with Débora Duarte, 1970s relationship), and Yan (with an earlier marriage; Wikipedia names Vera Lúcia Martins da Cunha, IMDb names Paula Miraglia). IMDb and Leonardo Brício's farewell also name stepson Bernardo Poli. MinC's condolence note spoke of five children and seven grandchildren.
Gracindo Júnior died at home in Barra da Tijuca on the evening of 2026-09-01, aged 83. Friend and frequent co-star Leonardo Brício wrote that he was present with the wife and children shortly before 22:00 when Gracindo gave his last breath. G1 and Agência Brasil reported natural causes; Portuguese Wikipedia notes he had faced Alzheimer's disease since 2020. A public wake and cremation were held 2026-09-03 at Crematório e Cemitério da Penitência (Caju), Rio. Colleagues including Zezé Motta, Beth Goulart and Maitê Proença paid tribute. What remains is a map of Brazilian audiovisual history with his initials on the first page: radio son, Globo pioneer, Casarão heir, Manchete romantic, Trapalhões director, and a working actor who kept returning to the stage that fed his children.
