Rosa became a sought after star, partnered alongside top actors like kabalen Rogelio dela Rosa and Leopoldo Salcedo. Her movies include the zarzuela-based Walang Sugat (1939), Kundiman ng Luha (1950) and historical bio-flick, Tandang Sora, which she considers her favorite. But she is best remembered for being the country’s first Darna, when she starred in Mars Ravelo’s “Darna" (vs. Cristina Aragon's "Valentina”), directed by Fernando Poe Sr. Rosa also became one of the early Filipinos to break into Hollywood, appeared in “Anna and the King of Siam” in 1939 (to be redone as the musical “The King and I”), as one of the king’s wives. She was also in the “The Border Bandits” and “The American Guerrila”.
Rosa settled in California with husband, John Samit, and two daughters, Geraldine and Teresa. She lived to see the Darna role she originated, immortalized as a blockbuster TV serial, as a musical and even as a ballet show. Rosa del Rosario passed away on 4 February 2006, in Modesto, California, age 87.
2. YOLANDA MARQUEZ (Macabebe). The Fil-Mexican beauty, Yolanda Marquez, who made a name for herself both in Philippine showbiz and later, in Manila's high society, was born to Kapampangan lawyer, Generoso Hernandez of Macabebe and a Mexican mother, Marina in San Francisco, California on 1 January 1920. At age 14, she opted to return to the Philippines, where she met her aunt, Rosario H. Paganiban, a former Miss Pampanga and wife of the famed director, Vicente Salumbides.
It was Rosario who helped her niece start a movie career, beginning with “Milagro ng Nazareno” from Parlatone Films, where she co-starred with Angel Esmeralda (Nepomuceno). It was an unprecedented success and Yolanda was on her way. She just made 9 film appearances in 2 decades, but those were enough to propel her to national fame. Add to that her talk-of-the-town American ways—she was the first Filipina actress to don shorts and slacks on the celluloid screen, considered daring in those times.
Her career though, was put on hold by the War. In 1944, she met a basketball star from La Salle, Leo Prieto (later a PBA Commissioner), whom she married. Post-War, now known as Mary Prieto, she joined the Manila Theater Guild and appeared in such productions as Auntie Mame and Teahouse of the August Moon. In the '60s, Prieto modeled with the famous Karilagan that included Conchitina Sevilla, Joji Felix Velarde and Gloria Romero, in various fashion shows abroad. She later joined the personality development school.John Robert Powers, where she taught the art of social graces and style.
The Prietos settled in Makati and stayed together for 65 years until Leo’s death. The widow continued to be active, writing her biographical book, “No Regrets” in 2009. She succumbed to complications due to pneumonia on 11 June 2010, leaving behind her children, Leo Jr., Mike, Marylou, Tony and a host of grandchildren.
Lota was kept busy at the start of the 40s decade. In 1941, she made a movie with Rogelio de la Rosa yet again--“Tarhata” and as her career bloomed, so did their love. The couple got married on 20 September 1942 and would raise six children: 5 boys (Ramon, Rudolph, Reynaldo, Roberto, Rocky) and 1 girl (Ruby). When Rogelio decided to revive his RDR Productions, he convinced Lota to stage a comeback with him as her leading man in the 1951 movie, “Irisan”.
Rogelio would make bigger news when, in 1961, he decided to join the presidential race. Had he not withdrawn his candidacy to give way to his brother-in-law Diosdado Macapagal, Lota Degado could have been a First Lady! She would outlive Rogelio (who died in 1986), for over two decades in the company of her children. none of whom entered showbiz. Lota passed away of undisclosed causes on 28 April 2009.
4. ROSA ROSAL (Sta. Rita).The famous 50s contravida was born as Florence Danon y Lansang on 16 October 1931. Her French-Egyptian father, Julio Danon, was already in his 50s when he met 18 year old Gloria Lansang from Sta. Rita. Before she was 5, Florence lost her father; her mother remarried, this time to Ruperto del Barrio, of Sta. Cruz, Manila, with whom she had 3 daughters and 2 sons. Florence went to school at Araullo High, but had to quit when World War II came.
After the war, Florence was employed at the National Chest Center under Dr. Sixto Francisco. On one of her walks back home, she chanced upon a film shooting. A caster signed up the exotic gawker, and included her in a group scene, even meriting a brief close-up. Her fleeting exposure was noticed by producer Luis Nolasco who offered her a role in the 1946 film, “Fort Santiago”. The next year, the sixteener played a sexy villain in the blockbuster “Kamagong”, opposite Leopoldo Salcedo. Florence gained her screen name in one banquet for a visiting Hollywood producer. The tables featured floral centerpieces of gardenias (rosal) and roses, and when Florence picked up a ‘rosal’, Luis Nolasco saw the similarity and gave her the name—Rosa Rosal.
Her star soared when she was named “Queen of the Philippine Movies” title in 1948. LVN Studios, under Dña Sisang de Leon pirated her from the Nolasco Brothers with a fat paycheck, a house and a car. It turned out to be a good move for Rosa, as she landed the lead in the historic movie “Anak Dalita”, a love story between a Korean war veteran and a prostitute, directed by Lamberto Avellana. It was named as Best Film in the 1956 Asian Film Festival in Hongkong, while Rosa Rosal earned a presidential citation from Ramon Magsaysay. The next year, Rosa did “Badjao”, a story about a Tausug princess and her marriage to a pearl diver, which went on to win 4 major awards in Tokyo. In the classic “Biyaya ng Lupa”, she was a farmer’s widow coping with her husband’s murder and a daughter’s rape. She was totally made unglamorous for this part, a far cry from her sultry vixen image. In 1976, Rosa reprised her role as an oppressed sugar plantation worker in the controversial movie, “Sakada”.
She would also dabble in TV, as a sitcom actress (“Yan ang Misis Ko”, with Ronald Remy) and as a public service host (“Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko”, “Damayan”). These appearances spotlighted her work for Red Cross, which began in 1950—when she saw a dying young girl revived to life at the Philippine General Hospital after a blood transfusion. She called for the improvement of Red Cross facilities, organized blood letting drives, and went on mercy missions even during the height of Martial Law and People Power Revolution. For her selfless public service, she was honored with the prestigious 1999 Magsaysay Award. Rosa Rosal has an only daughter, Toni Rose Gayda, with American Walter Gayda. This “vamp with a heart of gold” is among the most admired and most accomplished Filipinas in the country today.
At age 18, Letty caught the eye of Dña Narcisa ‘Sisang’ de Leon of LVN Pictures Inc., who convinced her to be an actress. Her first movie role was in “Bohemyo” (1951), a villainess who intrudes in the love affair of Delia Razon and Mario Montenegro--her future husband. So effective was her portrayal that she would be typecast as the perennial ‘kontrabida’ in her next movies: “Señorito” (with Manuel Conde), “Tatlong Labuyo” (again with Mario and Delia) and the romantic comedy “Batangueña” (with Jaime dela Rosa) all completed in 1953.
Letty would also be chosen as an endorser for products like Cortal and Camay Soap, “the soap of beautiful women”. After their marriage, Letty retired from the movies to raise her children. A daughter, Honeylet, was a model and occasional film actress in the early ‘80s. Honeylet’s own daughter, Valeen Montenegro Vicente, is also a budding actress today.
6. LYDIA MONTAÑEZ (Arayat). One of the most exotic faces of Philippine cinema in the 1950s, owing to her Russian-Kapampangan lineage was Lydia Montañez, born on 28 April 1933, to Victor Pavlov Korionoff and Marcelina Lising Simbulan of Arayat. Victor escaped the bloody Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and found himself in the Philippines where he was employed first at the Kabankalan Sugar Central in Negros, and then assigned at the Arayat Sugar Central in 1926 as plant engineer.
Victor built a large 2-storey house for his family, complete with a swimming pool and a bathroom with a flush toilet—a first in Arayat. Eldest daughter Tatiana (“Tanya or Tani”) attended local schools in where she learned to sing and play the guitar. She eventually became a teacher after her studies at Arayat Institute. Tanya never considered herself beautiful; in fact, when she joined a local beauty search—the Cinderella Contest—she placed a dismal 26th. But this paved the way for her showbiz career.
Fernando Poe Sr. of Royal Pictures renamed her as Lydia Montemayor , signed her up and gave her small roles. But it was the Benito Brothers Productions who turned her into a full-fledged star. Re-christened Lydia Montañez—Lydia, in honor of her foster aunt, and Montañez, from the mountain town of her birth--she was launched in “Irog, Paalam” (1951) with top matinee idol Leopoldo Salcedo as her leading man. It was a huge box office hit. Their team-up would be repeated in “La Roca Trinidad”, produced by Salcedo himself.
On 2 April 1952, Lydia married Medardo Aquino, and gave birth to her first child, Nanette Ma. Socorro. She was followed by Medardo Jr., Agapito, Anatole, Maria Yasmine, Remegio, Katrina Grace and Gerardo. Even as a young mother, she would continue to make more movies in the first half of the 1950s, until she decided to leave showbiz behind in favor of family. Lydia, who has reverted back to her original name Tanya, is settled with her husband in California.
As to how she got into the movies, we have no account, but at age 17, she was cast in the epic 1951 movie “Sta. Cristina”, under Premiere Productions. More assignments followed : “Bahay na Tisa” and “Taga-Ilog”, “Kalbaryo ni Hesus”, another movie with a religious theme. Her star was at its brightest in 1954, making a record of six movies. But it was in 1955 that she made waves in the movie adaptation of “Torpe”, a Mars Ravelo story serialized in Hiwaga Komiks. Her performance alongside Carlos Padilla Jr. earned her a FAMAS Best Actress nomination.
As the 50s ended, she moved to Sampaguita Pictures, then a rising production outfit, making a few more movies before calling it quits. She married Antonio Basmayor, a Turkish-Filipino, with whom she had 5 children: Valentine, Antonio,Christine, Mary Rose and Herbert. In 1984, with her showbiz years behind her, Rosita and her family moved to the U.S. and has not been back since. The Costenobles spent 57 beautiful years together, until Antonio’s death at the age of 85 in 2008.
8. GRACITA DOMINGUEZ (Mabalacat). Gracita Dominguez comes from an old-time family from Mabalacat which counts a hero (Lt. Emilio Dominguez, a Katipunero) among its members. She, too, was launched as a new heroine of Philippine movies as the—“bagong tuklas ni Manuel Conde”. Conde had produced and starred in the 1950 epic, “Genghis Khan” which took Venice Film festival by storm two years later. Before this, Gracita had done occasional bod-a-bil shows, and so it was really hitting the big time when she was introduced in “Siete Infantes de Lara”, a costume movie by Carlos “Botong” Francisco.
A year later, the young ingenue was launched to full stardom, in Fortune Productions “Hiwaga ng Langit”, followed in 1952 appearance in Carlos Vander Tolosa’s “Kalbaryo ni Hesus”, that featured American actor, Jennings Sturgeon, as Jesus Christ. Despite these films, Gracita did not quite make the A-list of bankable movie actresses. She continued performing in stage and opera shows where she met Rodolfo Quizon—Dolphy, today's King of Philippine Comedy. Despite opposition from Gracita's parents, she became Dolphy’s wife. When the kids came along—Manny, Freddie, Edgar, Sahlee and Rollie—she decided to quit showbiz altogether to devote her time to her family, while Dolphy worked abroad as a comedian in Hong Kong. Gracita and Dolphy separated in 1963. They, however, remained in good terms for the rest of her life. She passed away in 2007 after a long illness.
At age 15, she started performing at the Lotus Theater as a singer. The next year, she was discovered for the movies by writer-director Susana de Guzman. Her first lead role as Lilia Dizon was in the 1948 film, “Kaaway ng Babae,” where she had to act like a man. At 17, she married director Gil de Leon, sixteen years her senior. She made her mark portraying strong woman roles in movies like “Sandra Wong,” “Kandilerong Pilak” (Asia’s Best Actress award in 1954), and "Bathaluman” with Mario Montenegro. After her 18 year-marriage ended, Lilia left for the U.S. in 1966 to join her father in California. After Gil’s death, she married Antonio Abad, a match that produced 2 children, Antoinette and Corrie.
She would resurface in 1974 to appear with son Christopher in the award-winning Brocka film, “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” which would catapult her son to fame. Now divorced, she is back to being Claire Strauss and is a doting grandma to fifteen grandchildren.
10. TESSIE AGANA (Tarlac). Before there was Vilma, Snooky, Janice, Matet, Aiza, and Ryzza Mae, there was the original child wonder of the 50s, who, with just one film, saved a leading production company from bankruptcy, while stealing the hearts of millions of movie fans. Maria Teresa Rigotti Agana, born on 16 May 1942, was the child of movie star Linda Estrella and Dr. Adriano Agcaoili Agana, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Tarlac, Tarlac.
Wed in 1941, they immediately had their first child, Tessie, while a second daughter, Cynthia, would tragically die just 12 days she was born. Much love was thus lavished Tessie, but with a famous artista for a mother, Tessie got used to the limelight very early on. At age 5, her mother allowed her to audition for the Vera-Perezes of Sampaguita Pictures. Tessie impressed Dr. Jose Perez with her ability to cry on cue and soon she was cast in several movies, her first two with Pancho Magalona.
No sooner had she started when Sampaguita Pictures was razed by a fire, leaving the studio in jeopardy. The tearjerker novel, “Roberto” by Mars Ravelo, came at the right time. Cast in the lead role was 11 year old Tessie. When “Roberta” was shown at the Life Theater, it became a monster hit, breaking all existing box-office records—and helping rebuild the studio. Tessie. Thus, became the first child superstar of Philippine movies. A succession of films from 1951-1953 followed : "Ang Prinsesa at ang Pulubi”, “Anghel ng Pag-ibig” , “Rebecca”, “Munting Kerubin” and a Shirley Temple rip-off , “Munting Koronel”.
Like all child stars, Tessie had to go through the awkward stage. After 1954, she did just one film—“Baril o Araro?” In their desire to give Tessie a “normal life”, the family migrated to the United States in 1957. Tessie enrolled in a foreign language course and graduated from De Paul University in Indiana. She would come back to the Philippines at 18, to do the popular “Amy, Susie and Tessie” with Amalia Fuentes and Susan Roces. But eventually, the reluctant star opted to return to the U.S. , where in 1962, she would meet and marry Dr. Rodolfo L. Jao .The Jaos would raise a big family of 9 children—all grown-ups with families and careers of their own: Marita, Radmar, Rodger, Roderick, Michelle, Mylene, Rodolfo Jr., Rodney and Rodell. Tessie and her family are settled in Valparaiso, Indiana today.
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