Silvio Santos, Brazilian Game Show Legend, Dead at 93
One of the most famous figures in all of Brazil hosted the biggest shows in the country.
Silvio Santos, the legendary television host and founder of the Brazilian television network SBT (Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão), died on Saturday at the age of 93. Known as one of the most influential figures in Brazilian media—and often referred to as the “Oprah” of the South American country—Santos left an indelible mark on the country’s cultural landscape through his ubiquitous charismatic screen presence and entrepreneurial spirit.
Born Senor Abravanel on December 12, 1930, in Rio de Janeiro, Silvio Santos rose from humble beginnings to become a household name in Brazil. Starting his career as a street vendor, he quickly found his way into radio and then television, where his natural talent for entertaining audiences led him to become one of the most beloved TV personalities in the nation.
In 1981, Santos founded SBT, which grew to become one of Brazil’s leading television networks. Under his guidance, SBT introduced numerous successful programs that became staples of Brazilian television, including the long-running “Programa Silvio Santos,” which featured a variety of game shows, talent competitions, and audience participation segments. The program became a cultural phenomenon, making Santos a fixture in the lives of millions of Brazilians.
Through his media enterprise, Santos introduced Brazilian TV audiences to localized versions of dozens of game shows, the vast majority of which Santos also hosted. Adaptations of Wheel of Fortune, Card Sharks, Tattletales, Deal or No Deal, The Dating Game, Dirty Rotten Cheater, and Name That Tune were popular throughout the 70s and into the early 2000s. Temptation, an unsold 1981 pilot shot for NBC and hosted by Jed Allan, would make its way to Brazil as Tentaçao, which was again hosted by Santos and stayed on the air from 1994 to 2009.
In a unique deal, Santos also leveraged his influence as a media mogul to not only bring Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to Brazilian airwaves (under the title Show do Milhão), but also license the format for a series of successful video game adaptations on the Sega Master System, a console that has enjoyed steady popularity in Brazil since its introduction to the country in 1989. The console and games are still manufactured in Brazil to this day.
Santos is survived by his wife, Iris Abravanel, six daughters, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As Brazil mourns the loss of a cultural icon, tributes have poured in from across Latin America, with fans, celebrities, and politicians honoring his life and legacy.