Rob Schneider Announces His Mother and Frequent Co-Star, Pilar, Is Dead at 91

Actor Rob Schneider is mourning the loss of his mother, Pilar. Deadline reports that Pilar, 91, died of natural causes Monday at her Pacifica, California home, with Schneider confirming Monday that his mother passed away after spending a “perfect” evening surrounded by “loved ones.”

In an emotional Instagram post announcing the sad news, Schneider shared a family photo and opened up about his mother’s life as a survivor of World War II from the Philippines, revealing that she was raised by an aunt for the first three years of her life because her mother had smallpox. He also noted that his mother grew up without a father, who was “an American Soldier she never met until by accident 22 years later in San Francisco.”

“There was never enough food during the war and her stomach bothered her for her nearly 92 years,” Schneider wrote. “The family survived because of Pilar and her ingenuity. Her mother and sisters sewed pajamas from bedsheets and traded them with the farmers for sweet potatoes (kamotes), the ones that the Japanese didn’t steal from her.”

Schneider went on to reveal that his mother moved to the U.S. in the 1950s after graduating from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, writing that she “not only survived, she thrived, getting her master’s degree as a reading specialist and was elected to the School board in Pacifica California getting more votes than Bill Clinton.” The former Saturday Night Live star said his mother went on to become a teacher, and after retiring, “she made sure that the Schools in her town where she raised all her children, Pacifica, all had music teachers and music classes, a program she ran for 15 years.”

“Pilar spoke often of joining her beloved husband of 39 years, my lovely father Marvin Schneider. That day has come for them to be together,” he concluded. “I am proud to be able to say that I am the son of Pilar Monroe Schneider.”

Along with acting in commercials, Pillar also became one of her son’s frequent co-stars, appearing in a number of his films, including Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Animal, The Hot Chick, and Big Stan. Pilar is survived by her sister, Rose, her sister-in-law Lenice, her four children – Schneider, producer John Schneider, artist Stanley Schneider, and realtor April Schneider Farley – step-daughter Linda, ten grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.