BRASILIA, Brazil — Silvio Santos, a Brazilian television executive and presenter known for his beaming smile and catchphrase “Who wants money?” has died after a decades-long career in the spotlight. He was 93.
Santos owned the television network SBT and created several variety shows. The most famous of them carried his name, which he hosted since 1963, and in recent years had aired on Sunday nights. It is one of Brazil’s longest-running television programs. Santos brought several other successful programs to his network, such as “Show of the Million” and the reality show “Artists’ House.”
“Today heaven is happy with the arrival of our beloved Silvio Santos. He lived 93 years to bring happiness and love to all Brazilians. … That wide smile and familiar voice will forever be remembered with much gratitude,” the SBT network said in a statement Saturday on social media.
The Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo said that he died of bronchopneumonia resulting from an H1N1 infection, for which he had been admitted in recent weeks.
His passing will change weekends in millions of Brazilian homes that have tuned in to the “Silvio Santos Program” and were welcomed by its opening jingle: “Here comes Silvio Santos!” He folded airplanes of cash and tossed them over the crowd during his show, some episodes of which extended for as long as 10 hours. He constantly interacted with audience members and — with a custom microphone attached to his collar — was free to wave his hands in the air.
Even into his 90s, he continued dying his hair brown, adding to the agelessness he exuded. His well-groomed hair became another of his trademarks.
In 2013, Forbes magazine compared him to Oprah Winfrey and movie directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
“Silvio Santos was the greatest personality in the history of Brazilian television, and one of the country’s greatest communicators,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on X. “His departure leaves a void on Brazilian television and marks the end of an era,” he added.
Santos was known universally by his stage name, though he was born Senor Abravanel in the raucous Lapa neighborhood of downtown Rio de Janeiro. As an adolescent, he sold pens and plastic sleeves for electoral identification cards and did tricks with coins and playing cards.
So engaging were his sales pitches that they led to an offer to audition to be a radio host. He bounced from station to station in Rio and after a stint…
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