On March 27, 1963, Maria da Graחa Meneghel was born in the south Brazilian town of Santa Rosa, the youngest of seven children (five surviving). Her brother Bladimir ("Blade") very soon afterward nicknamed her "Xuxa", and it has stayed with her ever since.
The blonde, sky-blue-eyed, girl moved to Rio de Janeiro with her family when she was seven. Still, she has kept a hold of at least one piece of her childhood: Xuxa still has one of her baby teeth.
At sixteen, she started modeling when she was selected to be the cover girl of a small circulation magazine. Soon, many other modeling offers came her way, and she finally signed with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York.
Although she was a nude centerfold in the December 1982 Brazilian edition of Playboy magazine, and acted in a movie that would be a topic of controversy later in her career, her early fame was in being the girlfriend of the soccer superstar, Pelי.
In 1982, she started on Brazilian TV. After ten years, her success had made her worth an estimated $100 million. In 1993, Forbes magazine estimated that her income during the preceding two years was in excess of $27 million.
She established the Xuxa Meneghel Foundation in October 1989. This center provides food, shelter, and education for 250 Brazilian children. She also spearheaded a campaign that resulted in 90% of Brazilian children getting immunized for polio.
Recent years have found Xuxa to be a virtual prisoner of her success. There is almost nowhere in South America Xuxa can appear in public without causing a dangerous crowd control problem.
Xuxa hasn't been able to leave her Brazilian compound without an armed escort in years. In 1991, she was the target of a kidnapping attempt by some "fans". (The real target may have been one of the Paquitas -- "Pituxa".) Police killed two of the culprits: Sao Paulo teenagers. The lack of freedom is so great that Xuxa has seriously considered moving her main residence to her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina (in 1992, she also had a New York Co-op, a vacation home in the Hamptons on Long Island, and a residence in Barcelona, Spain).
Although she stands about 5'10" (1.77m) tall, Xuxa doesn't have much trouble getting down to kids' level. She has hugs and kisses for everyone. This has earned some ire from her more conservative critics. She's also been criticized for her good looks (she can still boast of a 35-25-35 figure on her 125lb frame [90-65-90 & 56kg]), and her liberal fashion bent. Xuxa doesn't pay much attention to these attacks; however she has recently changed her fashion style to be more in line with her age (as she puts it). Still, her point of view is that children like pretty things, and they like to be loved.
Xuxa's golden halo of success faltered when her show in the United States, "XUXA", failed to be renewed after the first season. Xuxa also suffered a herniated disc in late 1993 while doing promotion in the US for the show. This left her very restricted in what she was physically able to do for many months.
Once she was able to get back to work, she didn't stop moving forward. One of the most obvious changes ocurred in 1995 when the teenage helpers that had been with her through the years (many of whom were now adults) were replaced by a fresher set of "New Generation" Paquitas.
As always, the gossip newspapers and columnists are busy reporting on Xuxa's love life. Since I'm neither a newspaper nor a columnist, and I don't have reliable information on the subject beyond the very public photo-ops with Pelי and Ayrton Senna, I won't bother to make any serious mention here. Even an international celebrity deserves her privacy, don't you agree?.
