AFTER 70s matinee idol Ed Finlan died in May, his contemporary Roger Calvin just kicked the bucket yesterday.
According to Jessica Pica, a friend and a former colleague of Roger, the actor died in the Philippines due to a still unverified cause in a still unidentified place. “One of his friends told me just now that he’s here in the Philippines,” said Jessica in our social media communications.
“Nasa Facebook page na ni Pempe Rodrigo na wala na nga si Roger. Pati si Raquel Monteza who is in the US, alam na wala na si Roger (It’s already in the social media spaces of Pempe Rodrigo that Roger is already gone. Even actress Raquel Monteza who is in the US knows that he is already gone),” Jessica confirmed referring to Pempe, the daughter of the late senator Francisco Rodrigo and sister of King Rodrigo, the husband of Boots Anson Road and founder of Balik-Samahan, an organization of veteran male and female stars where Roger was a member.
Other members of Balik-Samahan are Perla Bautista, Nova Villa, Liza Lorena, Divina Valencia, Marita Zobel, Marissa Delgado, among the living ones and the late Susan Roces, Amalia Fuentes, Ronaldo Valdez and Gloria Romero.
Pica further said that his friend informed her that Calvin was already cured of his heart ailment last December so he went back to the US.
“Bakit ba siya bumalik dito sa Pilipinas? Sa Amerika, maganda ang medical services. Naku, nakakalungkot naman (Why did he come back to the Philippines? He was already in America where medical services are efficient. OH! It’s indeed saddening),” exclaimed Jessica, the actress who defeated Hilda Koronel in the early 1970s Miss Dance Owl Night Party of Channel 11 of the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company formerly located in Taft Avenue, Manila.
“Nagkasakit si Roger last year. Na-stroke siya pero gumaling na. Nakakalakad na nga siya kaya nakabalik sa (He got sick last year. He suffered from a stroke but he recovered. His mobility was already after the stroke and he could already walk that’s why he was able to return to the US),” informed Pica, a descendant of the Moratos.
Jessica is a one of the nieces of the late Manuel Morato, former chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board during the Cory Aquino administration. Pica’s dad is half-sibling of Manoling. She counts Jake Cuenca and Bobby Andrews, two of the current actors in Philippine cinema, as cousins.
Although Jez, Jessica’s pet name, is a semi-retired actress she is always abreast with the latest happenings in the local show business.
“Kaibigan ko si Roger. Lagi kaming magkasama n’yan. Pati ang mga barkada niya barkada ko rin (Roger was a friend. We were always together. Even his peers are also my friends),” said Jez.
Pica texted Azenith Briones who was still unaware by the time she communicated with the 1975 Mutya ng Pilipinas Miss Photogenic. “Hindi pa niya alam pero ngayon, nasabi ko na (She didn’t know yet but now, I already told her),” she qualified.
“Ngayon, alam na ng lahat (Now, everybody knows),” she added.
“’Yan, naikalat na ni Renz Spangler, ng Famas at ng iba pang (Movie reporter Renz Spangler has already disseminated the information together with Famas and other) individuals and groups.
Roger was known to have starred in many Lea Productions’ film projects like “Kwatang A Star is Born” with Divina, “Boom-Bang-Bang” with Boots and Jeanne Young, “Killer Patrol” with Joseph Estrada and Jess Lapid, “Salamisim” with Marlene Dauden, “Nag-aapoy na Damdamin” with Alicia Alonzo, “Artista ang Aking Asawa” with Dolphy and many more.
The Fil-Am actor was a discovery of star builder and publisher Rudy Ner Siongco.
When the bomba (actual sexual penetration of movie stars on the screen) era was in its height before Martial Law, Calvin migrated to the US because he couldn’t accept film offers that would require him to bare before the cameras.
In the US, Roger worked in advertising companies and other mass media work.
While making hay while the sun shone at Uncle Sam’s country, Calvin met Delia Santos, a prominent medical practitioner in New York.
Roger courted Delia and eventually, they got married.
Calvin and Santos had an unica hija, the amazing broadcaster Cher Calvin, a former ABS-CBN TV host, who is now a popular newscaster at KTLA Channel 5.
Details of Roger’s funeral wake are not yet available as of presstime..
He was 80.