Zé Celso Martinez: Widower cries when remembering the moments with the playwright

Marcelo Drummondplaywright’s husband Jose Celso Martinezwho died on the 6th of July, did not hold back tears when talking about his absence.

“It is an immense pain. Inexplicable. His image. His last image. On fire. I erase with my hand. I woke up to an explosion, a huge noise, I ran out and saw that it was smoky. I left the kitchen, I saw that black smoke”, recalled the widower.

drummond She said that she stayed by her husband’s side: “Lurdinha, who works at the house, pulled me out, woke me up, I sat on the stairs, I said: ‘You have to get Zé out’. Suddenly they pulled Zé, I lay down beside him, held his hand. I said, ‘I’m here with you’”.

Together for 37 years, they had made the union official in June, to “resolve practical issues”. Zé Celso was concerned about the fact that he had no direct heirs, since he had no children. The marriage, at the age of 86, was a way of facilitating the bureaucratic processes for Drummond if the artist died: “He was overflowing with love, I know Zé’s love, that is what makes me most proud”.

HOW ZÉ CELSO MARTINEZ DIED

Jose Celso Martinez was hospitalized in serious condition on July 4 after a fire broke out in his apartment.

“I woke up to an explosion. A huge noise. Then I ran out of the room, I saw that it was smoky. I went to the kitchen to see, I said: ‘Someone forgot, right? Is a burning pot doing that?’ I saw that it wasn’t. I left the kitchen and looked into that black thing, that black smoke”, said the playwright’s husband.

The artist suffered burns over 60% of his body and inhaled a lot of smoke. He was admitted to the Hospital das Clínicas, in the capital of São Paulo, and did not resist a worsening in his health condition, with the development of renal failure and multiple organ failure. Marcelo told how the farewell was: “I gave him a kiss, took his hand, asked them to bring Nagô (the couple’s dog), because he loved Zé”, he said.