Roger Lawrence "Rod" Strunk (March 26, 1939 – July 11, 2007), popularly known as Rod Lauren, was an American actor and singer.
Rod Lauren | |
|---|---|
 Publicity Photo of Rod Lauren | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roger Lawrence Strunk |
| Born | March 26, 1939 Fresno, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 11, 2007 (aged 68) Tracy, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1958–2007 |
| Labels | RCA Victor |
Actor and singer
editAs an actor, he worked mostly in television, appearing in single episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Combat! and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. amongst others during the 1960s. Lauren's most notable film is The Crawling Hand (1963) which achieved latter-day notoriety when it was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
As a singer, Lauren is a one-hit wonder who hit #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the song "If I Had a Girl" in 1960 and performed twice on The Ed Sullivan Show that year.
Personal life
editFrom 1979 to 2001, Lauren, who had since reverted to the use of his given name, Roger Lawrence Strunk, was married to Nida Blanca, a leading Filipino film actress whom Lauren met during the filming of Once Before I Die. After Blanca's body was discovered on November 7, 2001 in the parking lot inside a San Juan City parking garage (she had been stabbed to death), Lauren soon emerged as a suspect behind the killing.[1][2]
He moved back to the United States and was able to successfully fight extradition to the Philippines to face trial for the murder. Other suspects were later charged.[3][4]
Death
editOn July 11, 2007, Lauren committed suicide by jumping from a second-floor balcony of the Tracy Inn in Tracy, California, where he had been staying for the previous three days.[5]
Selected filmography
edit- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1962) (Season 7 Episode 20: "The Test") as Benjy Marino
References
edit- ^ "Charge Medel, Strunk: DOJ". Sunstar.com.ph.
- ^ "Nida Blanca Murder: It's Still Strink, Medel After All". Newsflash.org.
- ^ "Justice Junks Plea of Suspect in Actress Slay Case". Sunstar.com.ph.
- ^ "Two More Charged in Nida Murder". Newsflash.org.
- ^ "Tracy Press - Obituaries". Archived from the original on 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
External links
edit- Rod Lauren at IMDb
- Rod Lauren at AllMusic
- I Dreamed: The Rod Lauren Story (tribute website)
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