Goodbye Redford White

[MikeLigalig.com]

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Comedian Redford White succumbed to brain and lung cancer Sunday morning. He was 54.

True to his calling as a funnyman, White took his final bow, not with tears but with laughter.

Friends who visited him at his Quezon City home last week, recalled that the comedian was in a jovial mood.

“For the first time, we saw him laughing heartily,” said frequent movie and TV costar Ces Quesada.

His colleagues remember White, or Cipriano Cermeno II in real life, as a “quiet, unassuming fellow.”

Director Wenn Deramas, who worked with White on “Kokey,” one of his last TV shows on ABS-CBN in 2007, said the comedian was always “quiet, sitting in a corner and reading books on the set.”

“Buddy en Sol” costar Eric Quizon described White as a “dedicated actor [whom] everyone admired.”

Although he wasn’t rowdy, White was “a fun coworker … [who was] always ready to collaborate,” Deramas added.

A native of Cebu, White shot to fame as a cafeteria waiter on the IBC 13 sitcom, “Iskul Bukol,” which ran from the late 1970s to the early 1980s.

Quesada said the comedian first worked with the comic trio, Tito, Vic and Joey, and director Bert de Leon.

“I actually discovered him,” De Leon told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview. “I spotted him at the old Broadcast City. I learned from the staff that he was an aspiring comedy writer from Cebu.”

De Leon sensed that White had talent and asked him to do a scene with the late comedian Bing “Mang Tim-I” Angeles. They clicked instantly.

“People in the studio kept laughing,” he said. White’s screen test eventually became part of an episode of “Iskul Bukol.”

“His real name, Cipriano, was hard to remember. Joey [de Leon] and I thought of the screen name Redford White instead,” Bert de Leon said.

He added that White “never changed at all. He remained painfully shy and soft-spoken” even after he became famous.

“I feel bad that I didn’t get to see him. Bert and I were supposed to visit him this week,” Vic Sotto told the Inquirer.

Quesada, who worked with White for five years on the RPN 9 sitcom, “Buddy en Sol,” in the 1990s, agreed: “Red was never the type who sought to be the center of attention. He was playful and funny on camera, but he was a tad serious off-camera.”

Like the best comedians, Dolphy and Vic Sotto, Redford wasn’t a boisterous clown in real life, she added.

The “Buddy en Sol” family, led by costars Quesada and Quizon, assistant director Boots Plata, and talent manager Dolor Guevara, visited White at his home last Tuesday.

“We kept laughing,” Quesada said. “He was cheerful. He was in high spirits. I remember it was the first time we ever saw him laughing out loud. But it was also painful because we knew it would be the last time we would see him.”

Quizon described White as “a truly honest and good man. He was my comedy partner. My Sol. Together, we made people laugh and smile. I couldn’t have done it alone. He was a man who believed in his craft and valued his work. Today is one of the saddest days in my life.”

Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) head and fellow comedian Leo Martinez, who also directed “Buddy en Sol,” visited White last Tuesday.

“He seemed ready to go,” Martinez said.

Friends said White fought a valiant battle with cancerâ€"an illness he kept secret even from his closest friends.

In the social networking site, Twitter, comedian Gabe Mercado wrote: “He kept his condition secret, even from close friends. I didn’t even know he was ill.”

“He was a very private person,” Quesada told the Inquirer. “He’d rather hide on the sidelines. In press conferences, he’d hardly talk. He was very shy.”

The Internet was flooded with poignant messages from colleagues.

Actress and TV host Ruffa Gutierrez said on Twitter: “Woke up to sad news … I will cherish our ‘Kokey’ days and remember you with a smile.”

Also on Twitter, Mercado called White a “mentor … who had tremendous respect for his craft … [he was] perhaps the most generous man I knew.”

Singer Gary Valenciano said on Twitter that he “felt bad about [White’s] passing … I had wonderful moments with this man.”

[MikeLigalig.com]

some picture of Redford White

[Mapagbigay]

lingaw ko ani iyang mga movie.sige ko katawa sa una.good actor at mapagbigay katulad ko.hehehe

[bugsay]

RIP....pare'ng Red.

[Chongki]

pinaligaya mo kami ... paalam

[bugsay]

pinaligaya mo kami ... paalam

lahi seguro to'ng imong gitan-aw Chongkz...kadto seguro'ng "Ligaya ang tawag mo sa akin"..

bitaw, paborito sab ni siya nako nga komedyante....makalingaw gyud...

[Raquelproud boholana]

Bitaw good actor unya very generous sad ni siya. Bisaya pa jud.

[hubag bohol]

Bitaw good actor unya very generous sad ni siya. Bisaya pa jud.

Bisaya diay tos Redford White? Wa man ko kaalinggat nga nagkakauban to silang Yoyoy sa pelikula...

[Mapagbigay]

lahi seguro to'ng imong gitan-aw Chongkz...kadto seguro'ng "Ligaya ang tawag mo sa akin"..

bitaw, paborito sab ni siya nako nga komedyante....makalingaw gyud...

hehehe,basin nakita pud ang babae sa  bintana

[Raquelproud boholana]

Bisaya diay tos Redford White? Wa man ko kaalinggat nga nagkakauban to silang Yoyoy sa pelikula...

Perting bisayaa to si Redford Toy. Magbinisaya gani ni siya sa una katong host pa bitaw siya sa program sa ABS-CBN

[Mapagbigay]

Perting bisayaa to si Redford Toy. Magbinisaya gani ni siya sa una katong host pa bitaw siya sa program sa ABS-CBN

makalingaw ni nga comedyante,sa gamay pa ko sige ko katawa sa ijang pelikula.

[hubag bohol]

Perting bisayaa to si Redford Toy. Magbinisaya gani ni siya sa una katong host pa bitaw siya sa program sa ABS-CBN

Mao ba? Unsa ba diay tong akong lingaw niadtong mga panahona nga nalipat man ko ani...

[Mapagbigay]

Mao ba? Unsa ba diay tong akong lingaw niadtong mga panahona nga nalipat man ko ani...

basin hilig ka ug lovestory bay, basin pud ug nagmungha ka ato mga panahona

[bugsay]

Mao ba? Unsa ba diay tong akong lingaw niadtong mga panahona nga nalipat man ko ani...

ang nakahingag nimo sa imong panahon, silang:...Lampel Cojuangco, AnnaMarie Gutierez,....kinsa pa...aw silang pepsi paloma, sarsi emmanuel, coca nicolas

[hubag bohol]

ang nakahingag nimo sa imong panahon, silang:...Lampel Cojuangco, AnnaMarie Gutierez,....kinsa pa...aw silang pepsi paloma, sarsi emmanuel, coca nicolas

Hmm. Apil ba pud to sila ni Claudia Zobel, Maria Isabel Lopez, Joy Sumilang, Cristina Crisol, Myra Manibog... 

[bugsay]

Hmm. Apil ba pud to sila ni Claudia Zobel, Maria Isabel Lopez, Joy Sumilang, Cristina Crisol, Myra Manibog... 

...gipamulong mo pa....

[hubag bohol]

...gipamulong mo pa....

He he, morag naglibog na man gud ko. Kining edad-edaran na ta, magkahalohalo man gud ang mga pangalan (ug hitsura) sa mga artista ug mga kaila...

[islander]

ang nakahingag nimo sa imong panahon, silang:...Lampel Cojuangco, AnnaMarie Gutierez,....kinsa pa...aw silang pepsi paloma, sarsi emmanuel, coca nicolas

Hmm. Apil ba pud to sila ni Claudia Zobel, Maria Isabel Lopez, Joy Sumilang, Cristina Crisol, Myra Manibog... 

ang mga kwangs baya.  bisag ang ilahang idol si merle fernandez gyod na... (music, up and under:  pa-pa-pa-pa, pa-pa-pa-pa, uhaaaaaawwwww... nagdaramdam, nawala ka hirang...)

[Mapagbigay]

kaning injong gipanghisgutan na artista wa pa jud ko siguro  natawo,nas itlog pa ko ani nga panahon

[bugsay]

kaning injong gipanghisgutan na artista wa pa jud ko siguro  natawo,nas itlog pa ko ani nga panahon

uyyy. kompyansa ka, part....mas grabe to sa una kay sa karon.

[Mapagbigay]

uyyy. kompyansa ka, part....mas grabe to sa una kay sa karon.

mao ra ahong nahinumduman ang birthdy gift

[islander]

kaning injong gipanghisgutan na artista wa pa jud ko siguro  natawo,nas itlog pa ko ani nga panahon

heh, ikaw ray makahibawo ana.  unsay among alamag ba uroy nga usa ka sa unang nidagan pagawas sa barko pagbuto sa pearl harbor.  dala pa gani nimo ang poster sa imong favorite pin-up girl nga si lana turner.   

[bugsay]

mao ra ahong nahinumduman ang birthdy gift

usa sab diay ka's nagpagoryo-goryo, part....sama sa usa nga naas ubos...

[Scarb]

Perting bisayaa to si Redford Toy. Magbinisaya gani ni siya sa una katong host pa bitaw siya sa program sa ABS-CBN

Mao ba Raqs..now pako ,wla ko kaila nya duh-tagika nako woi uhmn..

Sad to know..kong wla sya matiklo ug mialabado dli ko kahibalo nga tagalig pala...este bisayang dako diay?

RIP-RW 

[Mapagbigay]

heh, ikaw ray makahibawo ana.  unsay among alamag ba uroy nga usa ka sa unang nidagan pagawas sa barko pagbuto sa pearl harbor.  dala pa gani nimo ang poster sa imong favorite pin-up girl nga si lana turner.   

hehehe,wa jud ko kahibawo ana,itlorg pa siguro ko isl wa pa mapusa anang  panahuna

[Mapagbigay]

usa sab diay ka's nagpagoryo-goryo, part....sama sa usa nga naas ubos...

kanang dali ra iwilik wilik inighuman ubos sa royal,hehehe

[chicogon]

Wa na diay si Redfort White... he was a good actor-comedian para nako. Hagikhik ko niya perme... May he rest in peace!!!

[Vito Andoline]

hahaha akong natan-awan katong body & sol. palamoot

[hubag bohol]

hahaha akong natan-awan katong body & sol. palamoot

Di ba kinder pa ka adtong panahona, Bay Vitz?

[Vito Andoline]

Di ba kinder pa ka adtong panahona, Bay Vitz?

murag 1st year high skol ko ato bai

[hubag bohol]

murag 1st year high skol ko ato bai

Wa pa diay ka molapas sa kalendaryo kon maohon...

[Vito Andoline]

Wa pa diay ka molapas sa kalendaryo kon maohon...

di ko magsaba bai kay naay tigpanglili  unja ug  mabujinggitan na sila

[hubag bohol]

di ko magsaba bai kay naay tigpanglili  unja ug  mabujinggitan na sila

Aw, di man hinuon ka makita anang imong, unsa na, chemical warfare suit?

[Vito Andoline]

Aw, di man hinuon ka makita anang imong, unsa na, chemical warfare suit?

hahahah.basin malibog bai.

[Lorenzo]

Rest in peace Mr. Cipriano Cermeno II.

[hubag bohol]

hahahah.basin malibog bai.

Baka nga. Oo nga ang baka... 

[bugsay]

Baka nga. Oo nga ang baka... 

...ang ikog sa pagi nagsige'g kaway-kaway kay gusto mo latos...

[fdaray]

Redford  White...., rest in peace, pahulay sa kalinao .