Antônio José Rodrigues Cavalcante (born March 8, 1962) is a Brazilian actor and comedian, who is known professionally as Tom Cavalcante.
Cavalcante was born in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil on March 8, 1962, as Antônio José Rodrigues Cavalcante.
Cavalcante began his career in 1976, performing in bars in his home state of Ceará doing humor skits and impressions of various artists. In 1982, Tom went to Rio de Janeiro and asked for a job on television, but he was turned down. In 1984, he tried to participate in the SBT Show de Calouros talent show, but he was not selected by the production to perform on stage. In the same year, he got a job as a radio broadcaster at Rádio Verdes Mares, where he presented the comedy show Ligação Direta for five years. During the 1986 elections, he worked by opening political rallies with comic skits. In 1987, he presented the television newsprogrm VM Notícias, on Rede Globo-affiliate TV Verdes Mares. In 1989, he met Chico Anysio, who invited him to return to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the Chico Anysio Show. With the program's end he began to participate in another of Chico's shows: Escolinha do Professor Raimundo, where he played the drunkard João Canabrava, a character created by himself. In 1996, Daniel Filho invited him to participate in Sai de Baixo, playing the doorman Ribamar. From 1999 to 2001 he worked in Globo's comedy shows Zorra Total and Megatom.