Benedito Ruy Barbosa Dies at 95

Overview

• The Hospital do Coração (HCor) confirmed that Benedito Ruy Barbosa died of complications from chronic renal insufficiency on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, while receiving care in São Paulo.
• HCor said he had lived with the kidney condition for about three years and suffered recurrent urinary infections, including a 19-day hospitalization in January 2026 for a urinary infection related to the renal disease.
• A public wake was held the day of his death at Funeral Home in Bela Vista, São Paulo, where family, actors and colleagues gathered to mourn and recall his career.
• Benedito built a five-decade career that made the Brazilian interior a central subject of TV drama with landmark works such as Pantanal, Renascer, O Rei do Gado, Terra Nostra and Velho Chico.
• His family has kept his corpus alive through adaptations and remakes written by daughters and his grandson Bruno Luperi, with recent high-profile revivals of Pantanal (2022) and Renascer (2024) that renewed audience interest and local attention to filming locations like Fazenda Rio Negro.