About Mário Filho Mário Rodrigues Filho, better known as Mário Filho (Recife, June 3, 1908 — Rio de Janeiro, September 17, 1966) was a Brazilian journalist and writer. Born in the capital of Pernambuco state, Mário Filho moved to Rio while still a child, in 1916. His father, Mário Rodrigues, owned the newspaper "A Manhã" ("The Morning"). The younger Mário began at his father's paper in 1926 as a sports reporter, pursuing a relatively undeveloped form of journalism.