Naty Crame-Rogers

Natividad "Naty" Crame-Rogers (23 December 1922 – 1 February 2021) was a Filipina actress, drama teacher, writer, producer and researcher. She was best known for originating the role of Paula in the 1965 film adaptation of the play A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino.

Crame-Rogers was born in Cavite and studied at St. Scholastica's College and University of the Philippines. She later went to the United States, where she completed a Teaching English as a Second Language Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

A patron of the arts, she formed the Philippine Drama Company and the Amingtahanan Sala Theater. She died on 1 February 2021, at age 98.

Early life and education Crame-Rogers was born in Cavite as the eldest of five daughters. Her father was Don Ramon Crame, a jazz player who played for the Tirso Cruz Band and was known as the “Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. of the Philippines”. From him, she became interested in the arts. Her mother, Espectation Kabeza, was a schoolteacher. She first studied at St. Scholastica's College. Before graduating from elementary, she had directed her first play, Cinderella in Flowerland. She also completed her high school education at St. Scholastica's.

Beginning in 1939 at 17 years old and during World War II, she studied at the University of the Philippines, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and letters. She then got a Fulbright scholarship, completed the English as a Second Language Program at UCLA, and earned a masterals degree in Speech and Drama Education from Stanford.

Career In 1946, Crame-Rogers was selected out of 600 candidates to be part of the first batch of international flight attendants for the Philippine Airlines (PAL). She resigned from her job after marrying Lt. Joe Rogers.

After completing her education abroad, Crame-Rogers taught Speech and Drama at the Philippine Normal College, and became its founding chairman of the Drama-Speech and Theater Department. She also worked alongside Rolando Tinio on several plays. A year later, she founded the Philippine Drama Company.

Awards and achievements Among her awards and achievements include:

1994, Cultural Center of the Philippines Gawad Award in Theater 1999, 100 Outstanding Filipinos in the 20th Century in the field of Theater 1999, PAX awardee 2005, The National Commission of Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Centennial Award for Women given by Pres. Gloria Arroyo 2008, UP Centennial Lifetime Achievement Award 2009, The Lifetime Achievement ALIW Award 2011, The Living Legend Philippine Theater Award of the International University Theater Association 2013, Natatanging Gawad Buhay OR Philstage's Lifetime Achievement Award

She has also been nominated twice to be recognized as a National Artist, but as of 2025, has yet to be recognized as one. They had an adopted son, Ralph.

Crame-Rogers was the granddaughter of Brigadier General Rafael Crame, the first chief of the Philippine Constabulary after whom Camp Crame was named. Romeo and Juliet Nurse