Silvio Horta, who created the ABC comedy Ugly Betty and shared its 2007 Emmy nom for Outstanding Comedy Series, was found dead today in Miami. He was 45. His agent confirmed the news but did not provide a cause of death.
Horta created the U.S. version of Ugly Betty, which starred America Ferrera and ran aired more than 80 episodes over four seasons from 2006-10. Ferrera won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing Betty Suarez, a smart, sweet-natured and wholesome Mexican-American from Queens who lands a job at a trendy fashion magazine in Manhattan. Betty embraced her unique appearance — including bangs, heavy-rimmed glasses and train-track braces — and independent attitude in the cutthroat world of New York fashion.
Born on August 14, 1974, in Miami, Horta got his start in the business more than two decades ago, penning the script before creatiung the feature Urban Legend. He went on to write for and executive produce the Sci-Fi Channel series The Chronicle in 2002-03 before creating the drama series Jake 2.0, which ran aired during the 2003-04 season on UPN.
He then developed and created Ugly Betty.
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