Tributes paid to the screenwriter and producer behind the comedy-drama starring America Ferrera
Silvio Horta, the creator of hit TV show Ugly Betty, has died at the age of 45 in an apparent suicide. The television producer and screenwriter, who was of Cuban-American decent, began his career with the satirical teen film Urban Legends starring Jared Leto, and created two sci-fi programmes, The Chronicle and Jake 2.0, which were broadcast in the early 2000s. He went on to have mainstream success with the comedy-drama starring Vanessa Williams and America Ferrera, which became a worldwide smash following its cancellation in 2010.
Ferrera, who played the show’s titular character, an unlikely
fashion intern, paid tribute to Horta on Instagram. The actor said she was “stunned and heartbroken to hear the devastating news”, adding that Horta’s “talent and creativity brought me and so many others such joy and light”. Elsewhere, Williams, who played the role of fearsome editor Wilhelmina Slater, added that his “creativity and passion will be missed by so many of us that worked with him. May he Rest In Peace”. Michael Urie, who played Slater’s personal assistant Marc, commented that Horta had “[broken] barriers and saved lives. Losing him is hard … I hear from LGBTQ people all the time that the show helped them.”