Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Wellington Nogueira began his professional career as a teacher of English as a Second Language, in 1978.
In 1983, Mr. Nogueira moved to New York City to study Musical Theater Performance, at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Upon graduating in 1986, he became a member of Actors´ Equity Association and The Screen Actors´Guild, appearing in several exciting projects for Theater and Film, such as “ Senõr Discretion”, a Musical Theaterworks production of Frank Loesser´s unfinished musical; “Louis Braille: The World at Your Fingertips”, at Theaterworks USA; “Bombing of Ann Arbor”, at Brooklyn Playworks and “ The End of Busines as Usual”, with The Reade Theater Company at PS 122.
He also played the role of “Carlos” in “Signs of Life”, an American Playhouse feature film starring Arthur Kennedy, Kate Reid and Kathy Bates.
In 1988, he began his full time clown work as “Dr. Mac Nachos” with The Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit; in 1991, he moved back to São Paulo, Brazil and founded “Doutores da Alegria” (Doctors of Joy), a sister-program of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit.
Doutores da Alegria is today a successful non-profit organization - with a cast of forty five especially trained professional clowns who perform at 15 major hospitals in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Recife - recognized nationwide for its professionalism and innovative work in the areas of Performing Arts, Culture and Health; recipient of the prestigious Prêmio Criança 1997 ( The Child Award), from Abrinq Foundation for Children´s Rights and included in The 100 Global Best Practices List of The United Nations´ Habitat.
Establishing Doutores da Alegria in Brazil has earned Mr. Nogueira recognition as a Social Entrepreneur and a fellowship from Ashoka – Innovation for Social Change and recognition from AVINA as a Social Leader; he is also President of the Advisory Board of Ashoka Brasil. In the past eight years, has been a guest speaker at conferences at events around the world and corporations, speaking on subjects such as “Joy in Adversity as Taught by Children and Clowns”, “The Hospital Through the Eyes of the Clown” and “Innovative Initiatives in the Non-Profit Area”, among others. He has also written a number of articles for specialized magazines on the impact of the work of Doutores da Alegria and the role of joy in everyday life.
Besides all these activities, he can also be seen onstage as Calvin Clown, Master of Ceremonies of “Midnight Clowns”, a clown variety show produced by Doutores da Alegria, presented four times a year and in movies such as “Sábado”, by Ugo Giorgete and “AlÔ!?” (Hello?!), “Avassaladoras”(Overwhelming Women) and the award-winning documentary Doutores da Alegria (Doctors of Joy), all directed by Mara Mourão.
