Singer-comedian Elizabeth Ramsey has passed away in her sleep. She was 83 years old.
Her daughter, singer and TV host Jaya, announced her demise on Facebook Thursday morning.
“Mama Beth is now with our Lord… 83 years has been full. Love and laughter, she has given not just our family but the whole nation. Thank you for your love and prayers and I rejoice because she passes in her sleep. In peace. In God’s loving arms. Bye mama, until we meet again. I love you forever. Thank you Jesus,” Jaya posted.
Last August, it was reported that Ramsey was confined at the intensive care unit of an undisclosed hospital following what Jaya said was a hyperglycemia attack and not a stroke as had been initially reported.
Ramsey recovered and Jaya vowed to make sure her mother feel loved as she also declared her intention to take her under her personal care in her own home.
With an entertainment career spanning over five decades, Ramsey was a native of San Carlos, Negros Occidental who was best known for her wacky delivery of English and Tagalog in her trademark Visayan accent, as well as for her signature song “Waray-Waray”.
In March of last year, Ramsey shared her life story in a DZMM radio interview with hosts Jobert Sucaldito and Ahwel Paz. In that interview, she revealed that she had been raised in a broken family and had started performing with bands at the age of 16 to be of financial help to her then ailing mother.
She later worked as a househelp when she came to Manila as she admitted that she was not really big on going to school and was more interested in singing. By 19, her father married her off but her desire to be a performer never waned.
She finally got her big break when she joined the singing contest of the noontime show “Student Canteen” and became an undefeated champion.
After that, Ramsay never stopped performing in places like the Manila Grand Opera House and Clover theaters mixing music and her livewire brand of comedy as she later became known as both “Queen of Rock and Roll” and the “Original Queen of Comedy.”
Over the years, she appeared on several films and television programs even as she never stopped doing live shows both here and abroad. One of her memorable screen performances came opposite Fernando Poe Jr. in the 1959 movie “Prinsesa Naranja”.
In 1963, she was even nominated for a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in “Ang Bukas ay Akin” topbilled by Charito Solis and Nestor de Villa, both now deceased.
One of her last memorable performances was a hilarious television commercial for Datu Puti vinegar in 2012 where she gamely “flirted” with TV5’s Derek Ramsay.
“Hindi mo nga ako Mama pero Papa kita… Sino’ng nanay mo?!” went her famous lines in that commercial.
In an interview with InterAksyon last year, Jaya talked fondly about her mother and the thrill of sharing the same stage with the one and only Elizabeth Ramsey.
“You know, I recently did a tour with my mom. Imagine, 83 na siya, hanggang ngayon nagto-tour pa rin. She’s still got it, the voice and everything. Gustong gusto nya, ako ang nag-i-introduce sa kanya pag magkasama kami sa show,” she quipped.
source: interaksyon.com
