Tributes were paid to award winning Filipino actress Gloria Sevilla, who died at the age of 90.
Known for her roles in classic Visayan movies like Pailub Lang and Badlis sa Kinabuhi in the 1950s and 1960s, her family said Sevilla passed away in her sleep on Saturday at her brother’s home in Oakland, California.
Her daughter and actress-director Suzette Ranillo confirmed the death and thanked Sevilla’s fans for the support shown to the “Queen of Visayan Cinema” throughout her acclaimed career.
Sevilla, who turned 90 on January 31, had won multiple awards throughout her career. She had bagged her first Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) award for Best Supporting Actress in the 1962 movie Madugong Paghihiganti and also won two FAMAS Best Actress awards for the movies Badlis Sa Kinabuhi (1969) and Gimingaw Ako (1973).
In 2019, she was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Gawad Urian Awards and was presented an Icon Award by the Entertainment Editors’ Choice Awards in 2021.
The actress appeared in 2019 in the film Pagbalik and the 2018 TV series Asintado. She is survived by her six children, including Suzette, actor Mat Ranillo III, and singer-composer Dandin Ranillo.
Actress Krista Ranillo, the granddaughter of Sevilla, in her tribute on Instagram said, “I’m so thankful we were able to spend time together ever since you moved here to the US. It’s still not enough time. I wish we had more time. I wish we had more memories together. It’s been 10 days since we last saw each other and my heart is breaking knowing I won’t see you again.”
