Pilar Seurat (born Rita Hernandez; July 25, 1938 – June 2, 2001) was a Filipino American film and television actress in the 1960s.
Career Born in Manila, Seurat began her Hollywood career as a dancer in Ken Murray's "Blackouts", the popular postwar variety show at the El Capitan Theatre. Though she primarily played Asian characters, Seurat was adept at playing various nationalities; her breakthrough role was as Louisa Escalante, the blind murder victim's sister in John Frankenheimer's The Young Savages (1961).
She was frequently cast on 1960s television shows whose production staff sought performers for Asian, Hispanic, or Native American roles, including in Adventures in Paradise, The Fugitive, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Seaway, Hawaiian Eye, The Virginian, Maverick, Bonanza, Stoney Burke, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, The F.B.I., I Spy, The Lieutenant, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Rawhide, Ben Casey, and Mannix.
Personal life In 1959, Seurat married producer Don Devlin. Their son, Dean Devlin, would later become a prominent producer and screenwriter. The couple divorced in 1963. In 1970, she married writer Don Cerveris and retired from acting, adopting the name Pilar Cerveris. This marriage ended in 1981.
Seurat’s father, Major Al Hernandez, was a Filipino-American who fought against Japanese occupiers in the Philippine jungle during World War II. He later authored a book titled “Bahala na,” recounting his wartime experiences. Pilar had a sister, Angela Hernandez, who lived in the Philippines, and a younger half-sister, Alana Lambros, a television producer in Los Angeles.
Death Seurat died of lung cancer on June 2, 2001, at the age of 62, in Los Angeles. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. The 2002 comedy-horror film Eight Legged Freaks, produced by her son, was dedicated to her memory.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRole1961The Young SavagesLouisa Escalante1961Battle at Bloody BeachCamota1961Seven Women from HellMai-Lu Ferguson
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1959–1962Adventures in ParadiseTehura / Midge / Queen VictoriaAppeared in three episodes: "The Forbidden Sea," "The Big Surf," and "Blueprint for Paradise"1960MaverickPilarEpisode: "The Forbidden City"1961Ben CaseyLi HerrickEpisode: "A Certain Time, a Certain Darkness"1962Stoney BurkeMargo TecasEpisode: "Point of Honor"1963The Alfred Hitchcock HourMickey ArthurEpisode: "You'll Be the Death of Me"1963The FugitiveElena MoralesEpisode: "Wine Is a Traitor"1964The LieutenantLt. Manisahn JorakaEpisode: "To Set It Right"1965I SpyCatherineEpisode: "Dragon's Teeth"1965The Wild Wild WestPrincess Ching LingEpisode: "The Night the Dragon Screamed"1965–1970The F.B.I.Maria Montoya / Maria Sandoval / Anita NievesAppeared in five episodes portraying different characters1966Star TrekSyboEpisode: "Wolf in the Fold"1966The Man from U.N.C.L.E.Amra PalliEpisode: "The Indian Affairs Affair"1966Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaMoanaEpisode: "The Silent Saboteurs"1966–1968The VirginianHapamawa / TelaAppeared in two episodes: "Long Ride to Wind River" and "Nora"1967The High ChaparralPilar CastanedaEpisode: "The Terrorist"1967CusterRed Moon WomanEpisode: "Spirit Woman"1969MannixMiriam ValeraEpisode: "A Penny for the Peep Show"1970Hawaii Five-OTheresa DietrichEpisode: "Nightmare Road"
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