Rosa del Rosario | |
---|---|
Born |
Manila, Philippine Islands |
December 15, 1917
Died | February 4, 2006 Modesto, California |
(aged 88)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1932–1954 |
Rose del Rosario Stagner, better known by her screen name Rosa del Rosario (December 15, 1917 – February 4, 2006), was a Filipina film actress of American-Filipino descent.
Born to an American father (Frank H. Stagner) and a Filipina mother from Pampanga (Aquilina del Rosario), Del Rosario made her film debut at the age of 14 when she was cast as the daughter of Carlos Padilla Sr. and Alma Bella in the horror film Satanas (1932). After seven years, she starred in her first major movie, Ligaw na Bulaklak (1932) opposite Rogelio de la Rosa. Del Rosario held the distinction of being the first actress to play the first Filipino superheroine on screen, Darna (1951), followed by Darna at ang Babaing Lawin (1952). Among her memorable movies were Doktor Kuba (1933, with Patrocinio Carvajal), Minda Mora (1929, with Fernando Poe Sr.), Zamboanga (1937, also with Poe), Nang Magulo ang Maynila (1937, with Domingo Principe), Himala ng Birhen sa Antipolo (1947, with Rogelio de la Rosa), Caprichosa (1947, with Jose Padilla Jr.), Tandang Sora (1947, with Leopoldo Salcedo), Kumander Sundang (1949, with Efren Reyes) and Rosario Cantada (1951, with Ben Perez). She also starred in Hollywood films such as Border Bandits (1946), American Guerilla in the Philippines (1950) and Anna and the King of Siam.
She was married to John Samit and had two children named Geraldine and Terry. She was also the grandmother of two girls named Hannah and Sarah McEllistrim.
Del Rosario died of pancreatic cancer on February 4, 2006 in Modesto, California at the age of 88.