Among the various national and international awards she has received in a career spanning more than sixty years, she was awarded in 1999 her country's highest civilian honor, the National Order of Merit, "in recognition of her outstanding work in the Brazilian performing arts," delivered by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In addition to having been awarded the Molière Prize five times, Fernanda Montenegro is a three-time recipient of the Governor Award of the State of São Paulo. She also won the Silver Bear at the 48th Berlin Festival in 1998 for her performance as "Dora" in "Central Station" by Walter Salles, a role which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Lead Actress in a Drama in 1999, among other distinctions. On television, she was the first actress hired by Tupi TV, in 1951, where she starred in teletheater shows under the direction of Fernando Torres, Sérgio Britto and Flávio Rangel. She made her debut in soap operas in 1954 with "A Muralha" on RecordTV, where she appeared in other productions as well. She has done work in most of Brazil's main broadcasters, such as Band TV, Cultura TV, RecordTV e Globo TV (where she remains since 1981), in addition to the extinct TV Excelsior, TV Rio and TV Tupi.