José Eugênio Soares (16 January 1938 – 5 August 2022), known professionally as Jô Soares (Portuguese: /ˈʒo soˈaɾis, ˈswa-, -ɾiʃ/), or Jô, was a Brazilian comedian, talk show host, author, musician, actor and writer.

Early life

Soares was born in Rio de Janeiro. Initially pursuing diplomatic service, influenced by his great-grandfather, Soares returned to Brazil for acting classes, and started his career in Rio de Janeiro in 1958.

Career

Soares' television career began at

TV Rio TV Rio was a Brazilian television station based in the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the state of the same name. It operated on VHF channel 13 and was founded by businessman João Batista do Amaral, its owner between 1955 and 1972. It was par ...

in 1958, writing and performing in comedy shows for the station. In 1970, he began to work at

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

. Soares moved to SBT, in 1988, as the host of, "Jô Soares Onze e Meia", (Jô Soares tEleven-Thirty n the evening, which aired until 1999. In 2000, he took his show's format (very similar to David Letterman's) back to Rede Globo, where it was then named, "Programa do Jô", which ran until 2016. His first novel, '' O Xangô de Baker Street'' (translated as ''A Samba for Sherlock''), was published in 1995 and has been translated into several languages. It was later adapted to a movie with the same name in 2001. Soares also put out various

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

CDs, as well as producing many plays, including a recent version of ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

''.

Personal life

Jô Soares was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. He expressed devotion to Rita of Cascia. Soares is depicted in the 2024 Globoplay documentary film ''Um Beijo do Gordo''.

Filmography

Below is an incomplete filmography:

Bibliography

* '' A Samba for Sherlock (book)'' ( (1995) *''Twelve Fingers'' () (1998) *''Assassinatos na Academia Brasileira de Letras'' (2005) *''As Esganadas'' (2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Jo 1938 births 2022 deaths Comedians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian male comedians Brazilian television presenters Brazilian trumpeters Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Translators to Portuguese 21st-century trumpeters Brazilian Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century translators Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches Male actors from Rio de Janeiro (city)