Roger Lawrence Strunk (1940-2007), popularly known as "Rod Lauren", was an American actor and singer.
As an actor, he worked mostly in television, appearing in single episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. among others during the 1960s. As a singer, Lauren reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the song "If I Had a Girl" in 1960 and he performed twice on The Ed Sullivan Show that year.
From 1979 to 2001, Lauren was married to Nida Blanca, a Filipino film actress whom Lauren met during the filming of Once Before I Die. During this time, he had reverted to the use of his given name - Roger Lawrence Strunk. After Blanca's body was discovered having been stabbed to death on November 6, 2001 inside a San Juan City parking garage, Lauren became a suspect in the killing.
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. On 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.
Riffed Movies[]
- The Crawling Hand (Episode #106) - as Paul Lawrence
