Premiere actor Jose Romulo, 83

MANILA, Philippines - Jose Romulo, one of the prized leading men of the 1950s, died of pneumonia due to diabetic complications on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Parañaque Doctors Hospital in Parañaque City. He was 83.

“He was a gentleman of the old school,” said Nestor Cuartero of Tempo and Manila Bulletin, Romulo’s nephew. “He was soft-spoken, a man of few words. As a child, I was amazed to see him transform into different characters on screen when in real life he was quite silent and shy, which is the mark of a true actor.”     

Born Romulo Alib Zuno on Oct 11, 1931 in Rosario, Batangas, he was a former police officer in his hometown when he was discovered by Premiere Productions, the movie company that signed him to a contract and built him up as a leading man. In his prime, Romulo was known for his good looks, Filipino brown complexion and acting talent. He was hailed as the first brown Adonis to grace Philippine movie screen, after Leopoldo Salcedo.

Launched as a lead actor in DI 13, about a fictional police detective based on a popular serialized komiks novel at the time, Romulo acted in close to 200 films, the most notable among them being El Jugador, Pandora, Conde del Monte Carlo, Dakilang Hudas, Apat na Kasaysayang Ginto, Exzur and Gabi ng Lagim. His leading ladies included Edna Luna (the original Dyesebel), Leila Morena, Arsenia Francisco, Rosita Noble and Yolanda Guevarra.

When he turned freelancer in the ‘60s, Romulo became a regular at FPJ Productions where he played supporting roles. One of his notable performances was in the film Lakay.

Romulo is survived by his wife Lydia; and children Rey, Rizaldy, Marivic, Carmen and Richmond; and grandchildren.

Said Marivic, “He was a generous father, especially when it came to money. Our mom is the disciplinarian and our dad was her ‘second line of defense’ when we became hard-headed. To us, he was unique for, indeed, how many kids in school or in our neighborhood had dads who appeared in the movies? He would regale us with stories about movie stars and of how things went on the set.”   

Interment will be on Aug. 9, 11 a.m. at the Loyola Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque City.