Jose Roxas Perez (October 15, 1915 – July 28, 1975) was a Filipino film producer and studio executive who headed

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was e ...

Early life and education

Jose Roxas Perez was born on October 15, 1915, in Bagumbayan,

Bulakan Bulakan, officially the Municipality of Bulakan (), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 81,232 people. Bulakan, which is one of the oldest towns in the Philippines ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...

. Perez attended the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

where he obtained a degree in medicine prior to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He did not continue his medicine career after he as an intern witness the death of his father who underwent an operation for

acute appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications o ...

. His father had an

anesthesia Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...

allergy.

Career

Perez would inherit the

production studio A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video. These groups ...

from his father-in-law José O. Vera. From 1951 to 1975, he would serve as the studio's marketing manager, general manager and executive producer. Doc Perez, as he affectionally called, would develop a reputation as a starmaker helping upstart the career of several actresses including

Gloria Romero Gloria Anne Borrego Galla (December 16, 1933 – January 25, 2025), known professionally as Gloria Romero (), was an American-born Filipino actress. Regarded as the "Queen of Philippine Cinema", she appeared in over 250 motion pictures and t ...

Susan Roces Jesusa Purificación Levy Sonora-Poe (July 28, 1941 – May 20, 2022), known professionally as Susan Roces (), was a Filipino actress. She was the wife of Ronald Allan Kelley Poe, better known as Fernando Poe Jr. Roces was regarded as the "Que ...

, and

Amalia Fuentes Amalia Amador Muhlach (born August 27, 1940 – October 5, 2019); commonly known as Amalia Fuentes (), was a Filipino actress and filmmaker whose career spanned six decades. She was the Queen of Philippine Movies in the 1960s and one of the to ...

. The studio would see a decline in the late-1960s with the rise of '' bomba'' films.

Death

Perez health would decline by the early 1970s which caused him to usually stay in his residences. He died on July 28, 1975, due to heart failure.

Personal life

Perez was married to Azucena "Nene" Vera. They first met when both were students at the University of Santo Tomas. Vera was a chemistry student They had seven children. They got married December 10, 1941, amidst World War II and two days after the

Pearl Harbor bombing The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the time ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Jose Roxas 1915 births 1975 deaths Filipino film studio executives People from Bulacan Filipino film producers University of Santo Tomas alumni