One of the most promising young actors of today, Marky Cielo—winner of GMA 7 reality show “StarStruck”—passed away yesterday morning. He was only 20 years old.
According to GMA 7 sources, the young actor died of “bangungot” which in medical terms, is called “nightmare death syndrome” or “pancreatitis.”
The FREEMAN Entertainment had the chance to interview the young actor some months after he won StarStruck, and it had the impression of the actor as a very pleasant fellow who upped his likeability speaking the Cebuano language during the interview.
Though Igorot, he learned how to speak Bisaya after he spent his high school years in Butuan City, the hometown of his father.
Marky was a product of GMA-7’s StarStruck Batch 3, where he won as the Ultimate Sole Survivor. The first Igorot from Baguio City to join the reality-based artista search, he bested other contenders such as Iwa Moto, Jackie Rice, and Gian Carlo.
He has appeared in many GMA-7 shows which included Encantadia, Fantastikids, Bakekang, Asian Treasures, Boys Next Door, Kaputol ng Isang Awit, and Codename: Asero. But he was best known as Zaido Green in Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan.
He was also a mainstay in the ongoing primetime series “La Lola.”
The nature of the sudden death of Cielo brings to mind the death of the young matinee idol Rico Yan in 2002.