The Butcher | They'll all be missed (Part 2)
(Editor’s note: This column was supposed to come out last week, except that The Butcher had to give way to this online site’s coverage of the 45th Gawad Urian.)
This is the concluding part of our tribute to showbiz people who said goodbye during the second half of 2022. Hopefully, this is the last installment.
DANNY JAVIER
He was acknowledged as the best singer among the members of the APO (short for Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society). Danny Javier was also the feistiest and most vocal in the group – the equivalent of Joey de Leon, who belongs to the rival group, Tito, Vic & Joey. The two, in fact, at one time engaged in verbal skirmishes. But that was all in the past.
Aside from singing, Danny also did a lot of television work – usually with fellow APO members Jim Paredes and Boboy Garrovillo. Their first regular TV show was Okay Lang – with Tito and Vic Sotto and, yes, Joey, although they had yet to be formally organized into the TVJ group. It was a gag show that aired for about a year on IBC-13 in the early 1970s.
The APO also took over the slot vacated by Tito, Vic & Joey when the comic trio left Discorama to headline Eat Bulaga in 1979. Then came Sa Linggo nAPO Sila on ABS-CBN, which became the daily ‘Sang Linggo nAPO Sila when Eat Bulaga was forced out of Channel 2 in 1995.
On his own, Danny hosted Tawag ng Tanghalan in 1988 with Nanette Inventor. He also did movies: Si Popeye Atbp., Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising and Blue Jeans.
ROMY SUZARA
“Sinimulan ni Mario O’Hara at tinapos ni Romy Suzara.” That was what was written in the opening credits of the 1977 picture Mga Bilanggong Birhen. Mario O’Hara, the film’s original director, had a tiff with producer Armida Siguion-Reyna in the middle of production. He left the project in mid-air.
In order to finish the movie, Armida decided to bring in Romy Suzara. In a profession where egos are as big as the Mall of Asia Arena, Suzara apparently didn’t have any issue about taking over the work of somebody else.
Unlike other outspoken directors, Suzara decided to maintain a low profile. And yet, he was respected by his peers, who even voted him best director (for Mga Uod at Rosas) in the very first Film Academy Awards in 1983.
Born Romeo Valmonte Suzara on July 14, 1940 in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, he finished elementary in a public school in Caloocan. High School was in Feati.
He actually trained for film and television at the New York RCA Institute of Technology. This was in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, he went to work for local TV and the movies. He directed the family sitcom ‘Yan ang Misis Ko (starring Rosa Rosal and Ronald Remy), which gave him the PATAS best director award.
On the big screen, he tried different genres. Wanakosey (starring Bert Marcelo and Toni Rose Gayda) was a comedy that didn’t have dialogues – a spoof on silent films. Laruang Apoy, Hello, Goodnight, Goodbye, Pag-ibig na Walang Dangal and Sana Bukas Pa ang Kahapon were dramas. But he was at his best with action films: Boy Pana, Pepeng Shotgun, and Bingbong: The Vincent Crisologo Story. Oh, he also did horror (Sa Init ng Apoy) and fantasy (Kokey).
SUSAN HENSON
She was one of the most promising stars of the mid-1970s. Susan was so beautiful, Ricky Lo put her on the cover of the now-defunct Expressweek. Even as a child, she was said to have already been very pretty. Her complexion was so pinkish, everyone in her family called her Pinky.
She starred in more than a dozen films, usually as leading lady to action stars. But quite sadly, she later became troubled and disappeared from the showbiz scene.
Prior to the pandemic, she was invited to join the Balik-Samahan, a group of movie veterans that gathered quarterly at the house of Boots Anson Rodrigo’s sister-in-law, Pempe Oreta. During dinners, she would peddle peanuts that she sold in plastic containers for P200 each. She didn’t have a hard time selling her products. The peanuts she sold were tasty and reasonably-priced. Everyone looked forward to her goodies at every get-together.
Susan stayed with a religious community in Parañaque. She took public transportation to get around the city. Sadly, she got stricken with cervical cancer and was hospitalized for months. She died last September 21. Susan Henson was 64.
RICKY CALDERON
In 1989, he became president of the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC), an organization of entertainment writers who hand out annually the Star Awards for Movies, TV and Music. As PMPC president, Calderon was able to mount some of the most glamorous Star Awards presentations. In 1990, for instance, the Star Awards for Movies had as main hosts Kris Aquino, Gabby Concepcion, and Eric Quizon, who were all hot movie personalities and news-makers that time.
Ironically enough, Ricky Calderon made it to the news himself in the 1990s. Covering the Star Olympics one time, he was manhandled by stuntman-turned-actor/comedian Bomber Moran.
Moran was one of the marshals designated to keep peace and order in ULTRA, where the Star Olympics games were held. During one basketball match, the crowd became rowdy and, for some reason, Moran singled out Calderon and dragged him by the collar. That came as a surprise to many because Calderon was a very nice and basically soft-spoken person.
The entertainment press was up in arms because of that incident. The PMPC members threatened to ban Bomber Moran in all their publications. Moran ended up apologizing to Calderon.
That was one unfortunate incident because Ricky Calderon was well-loved by everyone. He was kind to people and, unlike some other movie writers, hardly wrote vicious articles about celebrities.
JUN MACARRUBO
He wore many hats as part of the local film industry. Jun Macarrubo was basically a movie liaison. At times, he coordinated the TV promos of films about to be exhibited in cinemas. In a lot of cases, he also doubled as PR of movie projects.
Whatever task was assigned to him, Jun did it with utmost efficiency. He will also be best remembered for being mild-mannered.
DUDU UNAY
He was a talent manager who was said to have discovered Alden Richards and Liza Soberano. Sadly, he got into a word war with Alden’s manager sometime before he died last October 17. In an interview, the manager of Alden denied that it was Dudu who discovered the other half of the phenomenal AlDub tandem.
Dudu, however, had other talents at the time of his death. The most prominent among them is Royce Cabrera, who is currently being built up by GMA.
CHERIE GIL
She’s been given so many tributes since the day she died, but we still miss her so bad. Cherie Gil shouldn’t have gone that early because there’s still so much she can do in show business. It’s not all the time that an artist of her caliber comes around and that’s sad because there’s no one like her anymore in the entertainment field. Goodbye, Cherie. You’ll forever be remembered fondly.
(Next: The sad life of Flora Gasser who died recently.)
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