In Memoriam: Rosibel "Rosie" Hidalgo (1962-2021)

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  I met Rosie and her boy friend, Graham Mackie, Senior (our January 2013 cover model) on the set of Zombie Apocalypse (Nick Lyon, Director).  We all played zombies.  Later, we worked on other sets, including "Auction Hunters" and, most recently, the Jon Collins Band's music video, "Let Love Live."   
  
  WMV:  When and where were you born?
  
  Rosie:  I was born in Usulután, El Salvador, in the 'Sixties. [Circa 1962.]
  
  WMV:  What city and State do you live in?
  
  Rosie:  Palmdale, California.
  
  WMV:  When did you come to the U.S.A.?
  
  Rosie:  First, I went to live with my aunt in Mexico when I was a toddler.  Her husband brought people to the States, so, when I was eighteen, I came with him. [Circa 1980.]
  
  WMV:  So, your uncle was a "coyote," and you were an illegal immigrant?
  
  Rosie:  Yes.  I have a lot of relatives here, and most of us were illegal immigrants, at least, the ones my age and older.  We have a couple younger relatives who were born here.
  
  WMV:  Where did you cross?
  
  Rosie:  It must have been from Juárez to El Paso, Texas.  Then I came straight to Los Angeles, California, to stay with an aunt here.
  
  WMV:  What year was this?
  
  Rosie:  I was eighteen, so it would have been around 1980.
  
  WMV:  Did you go to school?
  
  Rosie:  I only went to high school for about six months, at San Bernardino High School.
  
  WMV:  Are you still an illegal immigrant?
  
  Rosie:  No.
  
  WMV:  How did you become a legal resident?
  
  Rosie:  George W. Bush offered amnesty in 2005, so I applied and became legal.
  
  WMV:  Did you have a job?
  
  Rosie:  Yes, I worked for Boeing.
  
  WMV:  What did you do for Boeing?
  
  Rosie:  I used a machine to test the strength of the materials used to make and repair their aircraft.
  
  WMV:  Were you a legal resident then?
  
  Rosie:  Not when I got that job, no.
  
  WMV:  Let me get this straight:  You came here illegally, and you only had six months of high school - no diploma, certificate, or even a G.E.D., but you got a job testing the strength of the materials used on Boeing aircraft?
  
  Rosie:  Yes, that's right!
  
  WMV:  How did you get that job?
  
  Rosie:  Well, one of my neighbor's worked there, and one of his supervisors let him know that they needed someone to do that job, so he told me about it.
  
  WMV:  That sounds like a very technical job; how did you know how to do it?
  
  Rosie:  I did have to use a certain machine, but they taught me how to use it.
  
  WMV:  On the job training?
  
  Rosie:  Yes.
  
  WMV:  Was that your first job?
  
  Rosie:  No.  My very first job was working for Jack in the Box.
  
  WMV:  When did you meet Graham Mackie, Senior?

  

  
  
  
  Rosie:  In 2007.
  
  WMV:  Was he your first boy friend?
  
  Rosie:  No.  By the time I met him, I had already been married and had two sons.
  
  WMV:  When were your sons born?
  
  Rosie:  1994 and 1996.
  
  WMV:  Did you get a divorce?
  
  Rosie:  Yes, in 2000.
  
  WMV:  Did you get custody of your sons?
  
  Rosie:  No, because I was an alcoholic.  Fortunately, however, my mother-in-law obtained custody of the children, and let me visit them at her house whenever I wanted to.
  
  WMV:  So, how exactly did you meet Graham?
  
  Rosie:  Well, I was working at Jack in the Box, and visiting my boys.  I had lost my Driver's License because I was a drunk driver, so I took the bus.  So, one day, Graham was riding around on his motorcycle, and stopped to offer me a ride while I was waiting, at the bus stop, in the rain.  I thought he was a creepy white guy, so I didn't let him give me a ride.  Another time, he saw me at a laundromat, drinking Heineken or Budweiser, so I let him give me a ride home on the back of his motorcycle.
  
  Then another time, he saw me while I was already riding on the bus, so he followed the bus on his motorcycle until I finally got off...   
  
  WMV:  Are you Christian?
  
  Rosie:  No, I'm Roman Catholic.
  
  WMV:  Why do the Hispanics in Los Angeles think that Catholics aren't Christians?
  
  Rosie: [quizzical look]
  
  WMV:  All right!  Enough about your personal life!  Let's talk about your career in entertainment.  Do you still have "a day job," so to speak, or is entertainment the only kind of work you do now-a-days?
  
  [NOTE: Rosie never answered any more of my questions. According to TruePeopleSeach.com, she died in August of 2021. Graham memorialized her on his social media. According to HollywoodLANews.com, Graham died of natural causes, in a parked car, in Los Angeles, California, on February 9, 2025.]

   

  Interview by William Mortensen Vaughan