CEBUANA film actress Gloria Sevilla, dubbed as "Queen of Visayan Movies," died in her sleep in Oakland, California on April 16, 2022.
Sevilla, a native of Sibonga town, was 90 years old.
Her death was announced on Facebook by event host and veteran broadcaster Sam Costanilla.
For having starred in most of the Visayan-made films produced in 1950s and 1960s, Sevilla earned the title "Queen of Visayan Movies."
Some of the Visayan films under her belt included "Leonora," "Pailub Lang (Be Humble)," "Gloria Akong Anak (My Child Gloria)," "Badlis sa Kinabuhi (Destiny)," and "Gimingaw Ako (Longing for Someone)."
For her superb acting in “Badlis sa Kinabuhi” in 1969, she won her very first Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (Famas) Awards best actress plum. She repeated the feat four years later with her role in “Gimingaw Ako.”
Sevilla also won her first Famas best supporting actress for her role in the 1962 film “Madugong Paghihiganti (Bloody Revenge).”
A talent scout discovered Sevilla when she was only 14. She was chosen to play her very first film role as Princess Tirana in 1951, according to an article written by Dr. Romy R. Protacio and published on Asian Journal USA last November.
Sevilla, born on January 31, 1932, also starred in several Filipino-language films and television dramas.
She married fellow actor Mat Ranillo Jr. The couple had five children, including Mat Ranillo III who followed the footsteps of his parents.
Ranillo Jr. died in a plane crash in 1969.
Sevilla's second husband was Amado Cortez (Arsenio Ruiz Padilla), also an actor who later became a diplomat during the time of then President Joseph Estrada. Cortez died in 2003. (KAL)