Ugly Betty creator Silvio Horta dies in an apparent suicide at age 45

Variety

Horta was found dead in a Miami motel room Tuesday. According to Variety, he died in an apparent suicide. Horta successfully adapted the the hit Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea for ABC. Ugly Betty aired for four seasons, from 2006 to 2010. Ugly Betty star America Ferrera paid tribute to Horta on Instagram, writing: "I’m stunned and heartbroken to hear the devastating news of Ugly Betty creator, Silvio Horta’s death. His talent and creativity brought me and so many others such joy & light. I’m thinking of his family and loved ones who must be in so much pain right now- and of the whole Ugly Betty family who feel this loss so deeply." Ugly Betty's Vanessa Williams also honored Horta, writing on Instagram that "his creativity and passion will be missed by so many of us that worked with him. May he Rest In Peace." Horta was born in Miami in 1974, the son of Cuban immigrants. In 2018, he was working with Mary J. Blige on the dance drama Move for Fox. In a 2008 interview, Horta said that the success of Ugly Betty was not all that it was cracked up to be. "My first year doing this, people would constantly ask me, 'Aren't you happy? You must be thrilled. You've got a hit show. You must be having the time of your life.' Well, no, I'm not," he told NewNowNext. "It's all consuming. I was so exhausted by the time I got home on Friday night, I was just paralyzed. I didn't want to go out. I didn't want to socialize and I had so much work to do. That was it. That was my life."

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• Veteran TV producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach pays tribute to Horta and his "profoundly Latinx" work: "Silvio was the most big-hearted, encouraging, and loving showrunner for whom I have ever worked. Silvio's writing was poetic, soulful, witty, and often delightfully catty," tweeted The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance co-executive producer. "Most importantly, Silvio's work was profoundly Latinx at a time when such a thing was far less in vogue than it is today." He added: "Silvio had demons - everyone who knew him knew that - but I believed with all my heart that at the end of the long and winding cave where those demons dwelt awaited a great body of thoughtful, funny, and moving work."
• Ugly Betty alums Michael Urie, Richard Shepard, Christopher Gorham and Alec Mapa also pay tribute to Horta