Actor Romeo Vasquez died early Wednesday morning in a Los Angeles hospital, according to his son-in-law, actor Albert Martinez.
Vasquez was 78.
In the 1960s, Vasquez was married to movie queen Amalia Fuentes and they had a daughter, Liezl Sumilang-Martinez, who passed away in 2015.
Vasquez, who was based in the United States, traveled back to Manila to attend his daughter’s wake and interment two years ago.
Martinez described Vasquez as a “good man.” “My kids (Alyanna, Alfonso and Alissa) are saddened by the loss of their grandfather.”
Vasquez shared the screen with Fuentes in several movies produced by Sampaguita Pictures in the 1950s and 1960s: “Pretty Boy,” “Bobby,” and “Bilanggong Birhen.”
Apart from Fuentes, Vasquez was also paired with movie queens Susan Roces in the 1950s and 1960s and Vilma Santos in the 1970s and 1980s.
Among his movies with Roces were “Debutante,” “Prinsesa Gusgusin” and “Maruja.” With Santos, he starred in films like “Apoy sa Ilalim, Apoy sa Ibabaw,” “Pinagbuklod ng Pag-Ibig,” “Swing It… Baby!” and “Ayaw Kong Maging Kerida.”
In 1993 and 1994, Vasquez portrayed the late Lauro Vizconde in two movies on the murder of the latter’s family: “The Vizconde Massacre: God, Help Us!” and “The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre II: May the Lord Be With Us!” (JE, Inq)
