Augusta Ermida - Fado singer in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' finally identified

POSTED BY CONTROL

In episode two of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, there is a moment when Hywel Bennett's Ricki Tarr is lost in wonder as an unknown Fado singer steps up to perform Estranha Forma de Vida. Everything stops as the camera captures the singer's distinctive profile, the beauty of her performance and Tarr's spellbound reaction.

This scene was filmed at Painel do Fado, 65 - 67 Rua San Pedro de Alcantara in Lisbon, on Tuesday the 17th of October 1978. The identity of the singer has long been the subject of speculation - until now!

So how did we uncover her identity? To complete our series of articles on Portugal, I felt a visit would be necessary. Prazeres Cemetery and the Convent of Arrábida have not been previously documented and would require 'boots on the ground' to identify all the specific filming locations. Would Mrs. Control enjoy a few days away in Lisbon and the surrounding area? She would very much. Would she have any problem if I visited one or two locations while we were out there? One or two - she would not mind at all.

The results of our mission to Portugal will feature in an upcoming article for the website (probably next year!) but there was one outcome I wanted to share as soon as I could. 

While we were there, I popped in to the Museu do Fado to see if anyone could identify our mystery singer. Armed with the episode on my iPad and several stills, I was hopeful someone might know who she was - unfortunately there was no-one there who was able to help me. When we got back to the hotel, my wife shared an observation she had been keeping to herself for the three hours I had dragged her around the Alfama district in search of Tufty Thessinger's office.

"You know, turning up at the Museu do Fado with some photos of a singer from the 1970s and hoping someone will be able to tell you who she is, is not unlike visiting the National Gallery with a painting and expecting an art historian to be on hand to give you an attribution."

It's the sort of piercing logic that Smiley would appreciate - me too, when I'm not the subject of the observation!

"Why don't you send them an email with the photo and see if they can identify her that way."

A few weeks later, a response duly arrived from Patrícia Parrado of the Museu do Fado. She believes our singer to be Augusta Ermida.

What do we know about Augusta Ermida?

She is one of the lesser-known but highly regarded figures of the traditional Portuguese Fado scene. She was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1926, and she specialised in traditional Lisbon Fado.

One song particularly associated with her is Foi na Travessa da Palha. Although several singers recorded it, Augusta Ermida's version is admired by collectors for its understated, authentic interpretation. 

Her recordings, which were mostly released between 1968-71, have a distinctly intimate atmosphere, typical of the Fado houses of Lisbon during the 1950s and 1960s.

Augusta died in 2007. Although she never achieved the worldwide fame of Amália Rodrigues, she remains respected among Fado historians because her recordings preserve the sound of mid-twentieth-century traditional Fado, before the genre underwent significant stylistic changes. 

You will find many of Augusta's songs on YouTube, but no actual film of her. I asked Patrícia at the Museu do Fado if they have any footage of her performing, and sadly they do not. According to IMDb, she did appear once on television in 1969, but it is possible that her appearance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the only surviving record of her performing on camera.

If you have any additional information, photos or film of Augusta Ermida, please feel free to email us at guinnessissmiley@icloud.com 

Thanks must go to my lovely wife for her smart thinking, or 'common sense' as she calls it! It is a pleasure to finally be able to credit Augusta Ermida for her beautiful work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.