Gloria Romero
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Gloria Anne Borrego Galla (December 16, 1933 – January 25, 2025), known professionally as Gloria Romero (Tagalog: [ˈɡloɾja ɾɔˈmɛɾɔ]), was an American-born Filipino actress. With a career spanning 70 years, she appeared in over 250 motion pictures and television productions. Often referred to as the "Queen of Philippine Cinema", she was known for her sophisticated screen persona and restrained acting style. Romero was the Philippines' highest-paid movie actress in the 1950s and was one of the top box-office draws for nearly two decades, making her one of the major stars of the first Golden Age of Philippine Cinema.
Romero began appearing as a background actor at the age of 16. After a series of minor film roles, she launched a career with a secondary role in Madame X (1952) and won her first FAMAS Award for Best Actress for playing a wacky tobacco-smoking maiden in Dalagang Ilocana (1954). She continued to gain success for her starring roles in romantic comedies, characters popularized in comic strips and remakes of pre-war musical films. Romero's other FAMAS-nominated leading roles were in Alaalang Banal (1958), Ikaw Ang Aking Buhay (1959) and Iginuhit ng Tadhana (1965).
After parting ways with Sampaguita Pictures in the mid-1960s, Romero continued playing lead and supporting roles of varying genres in the succeeding years and played darker, more morally ambiguous characters in Condemned (1984), Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig? (1987), Nagbabagang Luha (1988) and Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit (1989), all of which earned her nominations for the FAMAS Award for Best Supporting Actress; she won for the romantic drama Nagbabagang Luha. During this period, she began appearing on numerous television productions through sitcoms and dramas, including Palibhasa Lalake (1987) and Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko (2017), which was her last television project. Romero received newfound attention and success in the 2000s for her roles in Tanging Yaman (2000), Bahay ni Lola (2001), Magnifico (2003), Beautiful Life (2004) and Fuchsia (2009), including Tarima (2010) and Rainbow's Sunset (2018), the latter being her last film appearance.
Romero was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by government agencies and major award-giving bodies, including the Luna Awards in 2002, FAMAS, Gawad Urian (both in 2004), the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) in 2009 and Film Development Council of the Philippines in 2024. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts also presented her with the PAMAAS Gintong Bai in 2005 for her contributions to the preservation and development of Philippine arts and culture while the Philippine Postal Corporation honored Romero with a commemorative stamp in 2022 for dedicating her life and talent to the Filipino people.
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