Her father was a clown and her mother a trapezist. She debuted when she was a child acting in plays and performing on the trapeze and in juggling acts. A few years later she started acting in plays at Circo Teatro Arethuza and in a circus owned by Paulo Simões. In 1942 Maria married the former sergeant Mário Benelli. Together they owned Circo American, in São Paulo, where all the Benelli family performed, including her eight children, sons and daughters in law. Maria, who knew all the texts by heart, was in charge of the administration and artistic direction of the shows.