America Ferrera and ‘Ugly Betty’ Creator Silvio Horta attend the DVD launch party for Season 1 of ‘Ugly Betty’ in Los Angeles on Aug. 20, 2007. The show debuted on ABC in 2006 and ran for for seasons until its cancellation in 2010. Based loosely on the Colombian telenovela ‘Yo soy Betty, la fea,’ meaning ‘I am Betty the Ugly One,” it featured America as Betty Suarez, the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who lands a job as the assitant to a less than enthusiastic editor at high fashion ‘Mode’ magazine. With her big bangs, braces, heavy rimmed glasses and a poncho, she was immediately the butt of jokes by her stylish co-workers. Eventually Betty won them over with her perseverence, ingenuity and how genuine she was in a world that was mostly about everything on the outside, not the inside.
The show went on to win Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy at the 2007 Golden Globes and America won Best Lead Actress in the TV Comedy category. “Like a lot of its characters and a lot of us up here right now, this show is an immigrant. And Betty is a testament to the American dream. The American dream is alive and well and within reach of anyone in the world who wants it,” Silvio said in his speech, accepting on behalf of the show as he was not only the creator but executive producer, show runner and head writer.
On Jan. 7, 2020, Silvio was found dead in a Miami motel room from an apparent suicide. It was reported he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Silvio was not only the creator,
