Child actor Paulate began his career as a child actor. He received his first Best Child Actor award from the Manila Film Festival for the movie
Kasalanan Kaya in 1968. His first
FAMAS award was for
Anghel Na Walang Langit in 1970.
Gay roles Roderick's first foray in gay roles was in 1979 when he appeared in Maryo J. De Los Reyes'
High School Circa ’65. He became Roda Coburns in the early evening sitcom, "Tepok Bunot" over BBC-Channel 2 with Bibeth Orteza,
Isabel Rivas and
Tony Mabesa. A producer then gave him the lead role in
Charot, a movie inspired by
Dustin Hoffman's gender-bending performance in
Tootsie. His movie
Inday Inday sa Balitaw was a huge success, that in 1987 he made four gay movies in a span of eight months:
Jack en Poy,
Bb. Tsuperman,
Kumander Gringa, and
1+1=12+1. Paulate continued to play gay roles in movies and television. Paulate' influenced
Vice Ganda,
Allan K., and
Paolo Ballesteros.
Non-gay roles Paulate soon after tackled non-gay roles on both movies and television, displaying his versatility. His first known non-gay role during his peak years as a comedian was
Last Two Minutes which he played a vertically challenged basketball coach with PBA Legends
Alvin Patrimonio,
Jerry Codiñera &
Paul "Bong" Alvarez, and Regal teen stars
Zoren Legaspi, Jeffrey Santos, Aljon Jimenez,
Carmina Villarroel,
Ruffa Gutierrez &
Aiko Melendez. He also played the role of
Ding, a mentally-challenged homeless mute in 1980 in the first Philippine TV series
Malayo Pa Ang Umaga, about village life in the Philippines in the second world war under Japanese Imperial Army occupation. Paulate's 1st fantasy drama role was
Engkanto, released in 1992 with the late hip hop king
Francis Magalona. He played a straight tree man who saves the environment from nasty illegal loggers.
Singer and performer Dubbed as the
Rick Astley Of The Philippines, Paulate also ventured into singing where he was influenced by his singing idol Rick Astley. He was in-demand as a performer/host in various defunct variety shows, notably
Tonight With Dick & Carmi,
Vilma &
Magandang Tanghali Bayan.
Awards All in all, Paulate has received six Best Child Actor awards and 17 awards during his adult years starting with
Inday, Inday sa Balitaw in 1986 (co-starring
Maricel Soriano) when he received the Best Supporting Actor trophy. Paulate is also inducted to the
Philippines Eastwood City Walk Of Fame in 2012 for contributing his acting, singing, hosting and also being a comedian. ==Political career==