In memory of ‘Pambansang Lolo’ Rudy Francisco

The recent demise of former Sampaguita Pictures heartthrob of the ‘50s Rudy Francisco rekindled his hit and award-winning fastfood commercial in 2002 with then teenage Karen delos Reyes. He was…READ

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The recent demise of former Sampaguita Pictures heartthrob of the ‘50s Rudy Francisco rekindled his hit and award-winning fastfood commercial in 2002 with then teenage Karen delos Reyes. He was 96 years old.

Crafted like a short film embedded with serious intention, albeit a bit fun to watch one thinks it was yet the final crack at full stardom in the twilight of Francisco’s remaining years.

The combined seriousness and lightness of the tone of said commercial is in fact used by maestro Ricky Lee in most of his audio-visual presentations of how to write screenplays with double meaning in his scriptwriting classes.

This was earlier revealed to Caveat by his actor-son RS Francisco of “M Butterfly” fame who admitted having pushed the reluctant father into doing the commercial.

RS, who is himself a seasoned director for commercials, thought the role of a senile grandfather was perfect for his dad. Already 80 years old then, RS knew his dad was nowhere near the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, an age-related disease. Long story short, he tricked his dad into doing the commercial and it paid off.

The commercial brought his dad instant fame. He was virtually tagged in the industry as “Pambansang Lolo.” The grandfather has two grand kids by RS’ brother.

According to RS, one-third of his dad’s talent fee from said commercial was donated to the dental and medical needs of kids on behalf of Club 31 in the Cubao area where his parents were active members.

To recall, Rudy was in semi-retirement as corporate lawyer of Sampaguita Pictures, with a truncated track record as matinee idol. He stayed in showbiz for only six years and appeared in at least 16 films with Gloria Romero, Lolita Rodriguez and Eddie Garcia, among others.

Due to conflict of schedules, he turned his back on showbiz and opted to study law full-time at Far Eastern University. He passed the bar with a grade of 86.

RS’ fond recollections over the death of his father, however, did not end there. He was more than honest and human to tell Caveat that into his father’s retirement, the family’s financial stability nosedived adversely. He experienced literal sluicing and scraping of toothpaste and food to its content.

This sent him doing odd jobs like selling shoes, makeup, perfumeries and the like house-to-house. He got employed in a Binondo textile warehouse as hauler and seller while on the side pursuing his love for acting that landed him to originate the role of the androgynous Song Liling in David Henry Hwang’s “M Butterfly” at Dulaang UP more than two decades ago.

Eventually, he got the knack for turning the performing arts to his advantage however low-paying it was and coupled with a keen sense of entrepreneurship.

All told, RS crawled from the bottom to tower now as one of the titans in the networking industry.

Happily, RS’ father saw all his years of acquiring financial freedom by himself before he died.

The post In memory of ‘Pambansang Lolo’ Rudy Francisco appeared first on The Manila Times Online.