Trapezist, juggler, clown. His grandfather, the pharmaceutical João Castro Osorio, was he first one to contract a circus in his town, in Rio de Janeiro. There, he appeared for the first time at age six on the flying trapeze and ladder acts. In 1921, his father owned a circus in Sorocaba, where he performed with ropes and knives. Later in his life he also acted as the clown Nhoc-Nhoc.