One of her dreams was to revive the Visayan movie industry, where she reigned as queen in the 1960s.
Gloria Sevilla passed quietly in her sleep on April 16 in Oakland, California at age 90, confident that some young independent filmmakers have been making movies in the Visayan tongue. She had, in fact watched and delighted in some of them, according to her actress-daughter, Suzette Ranillo.
In her younger days, Gloria acted in Visayan-language films such as Badlis sa Kinabuhi, which won for her a best actress trophy from the FAMAS, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences in 1969. In most of her early films, such as Gimingaw Ako, she worked with her first husband, Mat Ranillo II.
Gloria married another actor, Amado Cortez, years after the death of Mat II.
From her early beginnings in Cebu-based Visayan movies, Gloria moved to Manila, where her career as an actress prospered under Premiere Productions. She branched out to TV acting in the 1970s, playing comic roles in a number of sitcoms.
Born January 31, 1932 in Cebu, several of Gloria’s children, led by Mat Ranillo III, ventured into acting with equally successful results, just like their parents.