CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Fernando Ramos da Silva

Brazilian actor

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ10281499 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fernando Ramos da Silva (29 November 1967 – 25 August 1987) was a Brazilian actor who became known for his role in Hector Babenco's 1980 film Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco, a documentary-style account of the street children of Brazil. Da Silva became a controversial figure after the film's release and found it hard to separate himself from his depiction as the street assailant Pixote.

On 25 August 1987, da Silva was fatally wounded in an alleged shootout with police. Police reports claim that da Silva was resisting arrest, but there are conflicting reports from eyewitnesses who claim da Silva was unarmed.

Early life

Born on 29 November 1967 in São Paulo, da Silva was the sixth of ten children. When he was eight years old, his father died, leaving him with his widowed mother and the rest of his siblings. They lived in a poor city called Diadema on the outskirts of São Paulo.

As the opening of Pixote states, his upbringing was similar to that of the role he would end up portraying. His mother received a pension of less than $10 a month. The family sold lottery tickets to generate a livable income.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fernando Ramos da Silva” as brazilian actor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fernando, Ramos and Silva.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1967, 1987, 1980—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1967-11-29. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fernando, Ramos and Silva providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fernando Ramos da Silva”, the useful work is to connect “brazilian actor” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10281499. VIAF identifies the subject as 44039435. The Library of Congress control number is n88235407. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1987 and 1980.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fernando Ramos da Silva”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fernando Ramos da Silva primary sources, Fernando Ramos da Silva archive and Fernando research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fernando Ramos da Silva”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fernando Ramos da Silva” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.