Biografía
Ivani Ribeiro, the pen name of Cleide Freitas, began her career at 16 at Rádio Educadora de São Paulo, performing folk and samba songs, some of her own compositions. She enjoyed success with her shows and also worked as a radio actress.
In the early 1940s, she met her future husband, writer and acclaimed announcer Dárcio Alves Ferreira. Together, they moved to Rádio Bandeirantes, where she started adapting plays, poems, and lyrics for various programs. After being hired by the newly launched Tupi TV, she created the series Eternos Apaixonados (The Eternal Lovers). In 1963, she wrote her first daily telenovela, Corações em Conflito, adapted from one of her popular radio stories.
In the late 1960s, she joined Excelsior TV, gaining recognition as the writer of the 7:30 p.m. telenovela slot, which led to 13 consecutive successful series, including A Deusa Vencida (1965), which launched Regina Duarte's career. In the 1970s, she returned to Tupi TV and produced classics such as Segredos da Areia (1973), A Barba-Azul (1974), A Viagem (1975), and O Profeta (1977).
In 1982, she made her debut at Rede Globo, the world's second-largest network, where her career soared. In November of that year, Final Feliz (1982) premiered, her only original script for the network. In subsequent years, she revisited her earlier hits with remakes, beginning with A Gata Comeu (1985), a remake of A Barba-Azul (1974).
She passed away in 1995, just 20 days after her husband, to whom she had been married for 53 years.
