When we turn to the literature of trans authorship in Brazil, the name Ruddy Pinho inevitably surfaces as one of its earliest and most vibrant voices. Known widely as “A Maravilhosa,” Ruddy was not only a celebrated hairdresser to Brazil’s elite but also a writer who brought her personal history, humor, and resilience into the literary scene. Her book In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias (Minas Gerais Inconfidences and Other Stories), a collection of short stories awarded by the National Library, stands as one of her most important contributions to Brazilian letters, blending sharp social observation with the intimate details of her lived experience.
Born in Sabinópolis, Minas Gerais, and raised in Belo Horizonte, Ruddy Pinho began her working life at just 16, cutting hair in the bohemian quarters of the city. By the 1960s, she had moved to Rio de Janeiro, where her talent, charisma, and bold style quickly made her one of the most sought-after hairdressers in the country. She transformed the look of countless stars, including Marília Pêra, Odete Lara, and Susana Vieira. Her invention of the “lioness cut,” immortalized by singer Simone Bittencourt, became a cultural phenomenon of the 1980s.
Yet Pinho was never confined to one role. She was also an actress, appearing in Neville de Almeida’s Navalha na Carne and later in Leandra Leal’s celebrated documentary Divinas Divas. Her ability to move seamlessly between salon, stage, and screen reflected the same fluidity that characterized her life story.
Ruddy’s literary career began in 1980 with the autobiographical Eu, Ruddy. At that time, she had not yet fully recognized herself as a woman, and her gender identity was not directly addressed in her writing. It was only with her second autobiography, Liberdade ainda que profana (1998), celebrating her 35 years as a hairdresser, that she explicitly identified as a woman and allowed her trans identity to take center stage in her narrative. The culmination of her recognition as a writer came with In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias. Awarded by the Biblioteca Nacional in 1999, the book positioned her not only as a trailblazing hairstylist and performer but also as an author who could capture the complexities of Brazilian society, memory, and identity with wit and emotional depth.
What makes Ruddy Pinho remarkable is not only her literary achievement but the way her writing intertwined with her broader life. She raised a son, Ivan, whom she adopted as a baby and who, today, is a police officer and father himself. The relationship between Ruddy and Ivan, marked by mutual respect and moments of comic tenderness, such as when he accidentally called her “father” in a taxi after her transition, appears in her stories as a metaphor for love that transcends conventional categories. She also candidly addressed the challenges of transitioning at the age of 40, after a period spent in Europe. Initially hesitant about embracing the term travesti due to its associations with marginalization, she later claimed her identity proudly as transgênero. This clarity of voice allowed her to speak both for herself and for a broader community, helping to expand the public’s understanding of trans experiences in Brazil.
Ruddy Pinho lived fully, unapologetically, and always with humor. She had multiple marriages, romances with actors and even politicians, and friendships with some of Brazil’s most iconic artists.
Her salon in Ipanema became a cultural hub, where stories flowed as freely as champagne. Even as she aged, Ruddy maintained her elegance and wit, famously insisting that “every woman must own a pearl necklace.” She wrote incessantly, on notebooks, napkins, even toilet paper, and was preparing her tenth book, O diabo das alterosas, before her passing at age 77.
Her legacy stretches across different fields: as a stylist who shaped Brazilian fashion, as an actress who stood alongside legends, and as a trans author who carved out space in national literature. In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias remains a testament to her voice, one that fused humor, memory, and resilience into an art that continues to resonate.
Ruddy Pinho was more than a hairdresser to the stars. She was a cultural figure who embraced multiple forms of expression, through hair, performance, and the written word.
With In...confidências mineiras e outras histórias, she cemented her place not only in Brazilian LGBTQ+ history but also in the nation’s literary tradition. Her stories remind us that life, like literature, is built from reinvention, courage, and a touch of marvelous excess. And as she herself once said with a wink, “What I love most is writing. I write all the time, even on napkins and toilet paper.”
In that insistence on narrating her life, without shame, without fear, always with humor, Ruddy Pinho secured her place as one of Brazil’s unforgettable voices.
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Photo from Liberdade ainda que profana (1998)
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