Her Majesty Hebe, the Queen of TV

The youngest of nine children of Sigesfredo Monteiro Camargo and Esther Magalhães Camargo, Hebe Maria Monteiro de Camargo Ravagnani was born in Taubaté on March 8, 1929. The conductor and violinist Sigesfredo, known as Fego, moved with his family to the state capital of São Paulo in 1932.

In 1948, Hebe toured the country with the show ‘Brigada da Alegria’ by the comedian, producer, screenwriter, and filmmaker Mazzaropi. Hebe became a nightclub crooner and was hired by Rádio Difusora, owned by Assis Chateaubriand, who also founded the Diários Associados union of communication media.

The singer met the actress Nair Bello during the filming of the movie ‘Liana, a Pecadora.’ Hebe, Nair, and fellow singer Lolita Rodrigues, whom Hebe got closer to during live shows, became inseparable friends for the rest of their lives.

In 2012, the trio were interviewed by the comedian Jô Soares on the program ‘Jô, Onze e Meia,’ an encounter that still makes people laugh today.

Hebe joined other artists from the Diários Associados group to go to Santos, where the equipment for the first broadcaster in Latin America would arrive by ship.

Chosen to sing the ‘Television Anthem’ at the inaugural broadcast of TV Tupi in September 1950, Hebe feigned illness and accompanied her boyfriend Luís Ramos, a partner at Rádio Excelsior, to a party at Teatro Cultura Artística.

That was what director Cassiano Gabus Mendes said about her unsuccessful screen test. History would prove him wrong. In 1955, Hebe finally joined the team of TV Paulista (channel 5).

It was for her that the writer Walter Foster created the first TV talk show, ‘O Mundo É das Mulheres,’ which earned her the Roquette Pinto Trophy for Best TV Presenter – a title she won 11 more times.

In 1957, she took a belated honeymoon in the US with Luís Ramos. During the trip, Hebe became pregnant and made the tough decision to get an abortion and separate. Upon returning, she appeared with very blonde hair, a style she maintained for the rest of her life.

Her famous jewelry collection began with her romance with Peppino Matarazzo, from a family of industrialists, who always sent her jewelry and red roses. In the early 1960s, she lived between São Paulo and Rio, where she worked at TV Continental, TV Rio, and later TV Tupi.

Upon meeting Décio Capuano, a car dealership owner, she returned all the jewelry to Peppino with a receipt. She married the businessmess in a pink tux at the age of 35.

After two miscarriages attributed to her work, her husband pressured her to give up her career. She agreed on the condition that Décio would support her parents. Hebe gave birth to her only son, Marcello, in 1964. With a crisis in her husband’s business, she resumed her career.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she hosted the most influential TV talk show in the country. After some years, and with the expansion of national network programs, the regional ‘Hebe’ had grown stale. Her father Fego passed away in 1971.

In 1973, she and businessman Lélio Ravagnani, 52, began living together in the presenter’s house in Sumaré. It was the longest and most tumultuous relationship of Hebe’s life.

Her second stint at the station, known as “Band” and owned by João Saad, was from 1982 to 1986. In 1983, Hebe rented a house and separated from Lélio.

In March 1986, she debuted on Silvio Santos’ station SBT, where she spent 24 years. She received high salaries and a percentage of merchandising, and licensed hundreds of products. In 1987, the Hebe Case took place.

The presenter and guests criticized the slowness of Congress in the Constituent Assembly sessions. The columnist Giba Um called the deputies crooks. This earned Hebe an accusation of being a “threat to democracy.”

At the 1994 season premiere, in March, to the tune of ‘Alegria, Alegria’ by Caetano Veloso, the presenter appeared with her face painted and criticized the impunity of federal deputies accused of corruption. She became a kind of spokesperson for middle-class discontent.

In 2008, Hebe was diagnosed with a rare peritoneal cancer. She underwent treatment and in March, on her 81st birthday, presented her show.

Several surgeries followed. In November 2010, she received the Latin Grammy, a special award for her career, in Las Vegas. Hebe presented the last show of the year on SBT in 2010.

In February 2011, she paraded with the Beija-Flor samba school from Nilópolis, with the theme ‘Roberto Carlos — The Simplicity of the King.’