Born on December 23, 1922 in Sampaloc, Manila. As an actress of the legitimate stage and speech and drama educator in the Philippines, Professor Emerita Natividad Crame Rogers, better known as Naty Crame Rogers holds a position of unequaled expertise and prestige in Philippine theater and in education today. In her lifetime, she has played in hundreds of stage productions, hardly ever refusing any role, no matter how small, seeing in each role an opportunity to contribute her share to the development of Philippine theater.
Among her most memorable roles were that of Paula to Daisy Avellana’s Candida in both the Avellana-directed stage (1976) and film (1965) versions of Nick Joaquin’s “Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”, Leonor Rivera in Severino Montano’s “The Love of Leonora Rivera” which toured extensively in the early 1950s (1954 – 1960) as the signature production of the Arena Theater of the Philippines which pioneered in the democratization of Philippine theater by training teachers as actors and theater workers in order to assist President Magsaysay’s program of bringing modern drama to the rural areas for the upliftment of the cultural life of the people. Other outstanding roles in the years that followed were Ines in the Puerto Rican play by Rene Marquez, translated into Filipino as “Tagpi-Tagping Liwanag”, Nurse in Shakespeare’s ”Romeo and Juliet”, Lady Bracknell in “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Maurya in Synge’s “Riders to the Sea”, Mme.Pastor in Brecht’s “Puntila at Matti”, Doña Pilar in the sarsuela,” Filipinas Circa, 1907” by Nicanor Tiongson, Candida in “Larawan ng Pilipino Bilang Artista” by Felix Padilla, and the role of Hermana Rufa in the Television movie Rizal’s great novel, “Noli Me Tangere” directed by Eddie Romero. She has essayed the role of Dona Teodora Alonzo Rizal in several plays, the most recent being Her Son, Jose by Leonor Orosa Goquingco for the Philippine Centennial in 1998.
She was awarded as The Most Outstanding Citizen in Education and Culture by the City of Pasig in 1982. She was also given the highest award of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Gawad Award in Theater in 1994. A PAX Awardee in 1999, the highest award given by her alma mater St. Scolastica's College Manila for her exceptional contributions as an artist. She was awarded the PhilStage Gawad ng Buhay Award at the CCP in 2014. She is Founder and Creative Director of the Sala Theater (also known as the Philippine Drama Company) in 1984 whose advocacy turns any regular Joe into a skilled theater actor. The group thrived on her philosophy, "Drama is Life. Life is Drama." Up to now, the group is still active as lead by her loyal prodigies.
Naty would always say: “I belong to the old group for whom honor, prestige and leadership were more important than money.”