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- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Physically imposing, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Gladys, a nurse and army officer, and Abraham Kotto, a businessman-turned-construction worker. His father was a Cameroonian immigrant, of royal ancestry (his great-grandfather had been a king in pre-colonial days), and his mother's family was from Antigua and Panama. Yaphet, whose first name means "beautiful" in Hebrew, was raised in the Jewish faith. After his parents divorced, he was brought up by his grandparents in the tough Bronx district of New York. He also had an aunt in showbiz who ran a dance academy. Among her alumni were Marlon Brando and James Dean. In fact, it was Brando's performance in On the Waterfront (1954) which inspired Kotto to go into acting.
He began acting on stage in 1958 with little theatrical experience, making his debut in the title role of Othello, a role he eventually reprised on screen in 1980. He also appeared on Broadway as understudy to James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope. After joining the Actor's Studio, Kotto commenced his screen career and soon gathered critical recognition with several edgy performances across diverse genres. From playing a barkeeper in 5 Card Stud (1968) and a thief in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), he moved on to juicier supporting roles as the evil Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond thriller Live and Let Die (1973), Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the telemovie Raid on Entebbe (1976) and the ill-fated Nostromo engineer Parker in Alien (1979). Kotto also starred as a street-smart Detroit car worker in Blue Collar (1978) and had a recurring role as a senior detective on television's long-running crime series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) (in addition to penning several scripts for the show). He was even on a Paramount shortlist for the coveted role of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), alongside Mitchell Ryan and Roy Thinnes). He apparently spurned the role for fear of being typecast, but came to rueing that decision in later years. For the same reason Kotto had also turned down the part of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise (which went to Billy Dee Williams).
Kotto died on March 15 2021 in Manila, Phillipines at the age of 81.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Producer/director Cirio H. Santiago is the son of Dr. Ciriaco Santiago, who founded Premiere Productions in Manila in 1946. He has two siblings. After starting out as a producer he started directing English-language movies in the early 70s. Santiago became one of the pioneers of the "Blaxploitation" genre by being one of the first to cast black actors and especially actresses as strong action heroes. Movies like TNT Jackson (1974) became instant cult classics. In the 80s, Santiago became known for his numerous low-budget Vietnam war movies such as Firehawk (1993) which gave him a reputation as the "master of the Vietnam war genre". A long running partnership with Roger Corman assured proper distribution of his movies in the USA. Many of today's hottest filmmakers such as Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante or Carl Franklin got their first directing jobs with Santiago. In 1995 he was named president of the Philippines Film Development Funds by President Ramos. The organization strives to uplift the quality of Filipino filmmaking to new, higher standards and to encourage production of foreign movies on location in the Philippines. Premiere Productions, headed by Cirio H. Santiago, still remains one of the biggest studios in the Philippines and went public in 1997.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The young Poe, only 16 years old, had dropped out of second year high (the farthest he got in school) to work as messenger for a film exchange at php18 a week,. Some friends of his at Everlasting Studio thought of him during a scene where a knife had to hit on a tree. Knives are usually wired for such scenes; but Ronnie was called in when the director heard he could hit the target with an unwired knife. He did - and got treated to a beer blowout by the crew. Markmanship and horsemanship were really got him into the movies. Those childhood summers in Baguio when he rode the ponies on Burnham Park, all the riding lessons he ever had, stood him in good stead when he turned movie "double." It started when lead star Lilia Dizon, who was doing Simaron (1956) with co-star Johnny Moreiro, sprained an ankle and couldn't do a riding scene, Asked to do it for her, Ronnie put on a shirt, tied on a bandana, made like a girl on a horse, and exhibited such riding skill. He became a regular stuntman st Everlasting, where he doubled in riding and other action sense.- Tessie Quintana was born on 17 July 1931 in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Alaala kita (1961), Batas ng puso (1958) and Sa Tokyo ikinasal (1948). She died on 25 February 1969 in Manila, Philippines.
- Actor
- Producer
Rudy Fernandez was born on 16 March 1952 in Manila, Philippines. He was an actor and producer, known for Bitayin si... Baby Ama! (1976), Bingbong: The Vincent Crisologo Story (1991) and Pasukuin si Waway (1984). He was married to Lorna Tolentino. He died on 7 June 2008 in Quezon City, Philippines.- The 1981 Manila International Film Festival was designed by First Lady Imelda Marcos as an elaborate showcase of Filipino culture. To everyone's horror, the only film that sold to the world was a midget spy film - a miniature mockery of Western pop iconography, and a joyously naïve celebration of Filipino Goon Cinema - called For Y'ur Height Only. Its star, a two-foot nine primordial dwarf named Weng Weng, became the most famous Filipino celebrity of his generation both inside the Philippines and abroad, yet curiously, less than 30 years later, the real Weng Weng story has all but been forgotten even by those who worked alongside him. Blame faulty or selective memories, or a fad-driven culture that never pauses long enough to ask "who?", "what?" or "why?" - truth is, the story of Weng Weng has become one of the Philippines' greatest urban legends, and the wildest and woolliest of stories fill in the gaps. Stand-up comedian married to a porn actress, real-life secret agent, hit karaoke chanteur with Imelda, the flow is endless. Once the horsecrap hardens, it's almost impossible to extricate truth from fiction, the right from the rot.
It's taken me over a year, three visits to the Philippines and more than 40 interviews with the people closest to him, including his only surviving relative, brother Celing de la Cruz, to glean the following information. There are still enormous gaps, but this is the most detailed portrait of Weng Weng I am able to put together; my documentary The Search For Weng Weng is as complete as it ever will be.
Weng Weng was born Ernesto de la Cruz, the youngest of five brothers, on 7th September 1957 in Balacaran, a district of Pasay City (now part of the sprawling 17-city Metro Manila). A condition known as primordial dwarfism caused him to be born, in the words of his brother Celing, "no bigger than a coke bottle", and he spent the first 12 months of his life in an incubator. He was not expected to live. Naturally, it was declared a miracle when he did, and in a country that venerates miraculous acts of faith, it is no surprise that Weng Weng was dressed as the Christ-child figure at the head of Baclaran's yearly Santo Nino parade.
A cheerfully mischievous child, his family nicknamed him Weng Weng, an epithet usually reserved for toy dogs. He was obsessed with martial arts and trained almost daily, until his instructor contacted film producer Peter Caballes and said, "You just have to see THIS." Peter and his wife, the successful businesswoman Cora Ridon Caballes, took Weng Weng on the rounds of film producers, including Bobby A. Suarez, whose novelty kiddie films The Bionic Boy (1977) and Dynamite Johnson: The Bionic Boy Part 2 (1978) were already international hits. Suarez turned down the idea of Weng Weng as a midget Superman, but successful indie producer/director Luis San Juan, who specialized in kung fu films for the export market, cast Weng Weng in a cameo in a film whose name is now lost to the sands of time. Peter Caballes then introduced Weng Weng to the King of Philippines Comedy, Dolphy, who cast him as his kung-fu kicking sidekick in his spy caper The Quick Brown Fox (1980) and western parody Da Best In Da West (1981).
Weng Weng, meanwhile, was a frequent visitor of the Marcos family at the Presidential Palace, where he was made an honorary Secret Agent by future President General Ramos, and was presented with a badge and a 25-callibre pistol. This act may have been the direct inspiration for Weng Weng's first starring role as Agent OO in the James Bond parody For Y'ur Height Only, produced by Peter and written by Cora Caballes for their company Liliw Productions. Eddie Nicart, renowned stunt director for the SOS Daredevils, trained Weng Weng every day for three months to be a professional stuntman, and was given his first opportunity to direct.
It's hard to pin down the appeal of For Y'ur Height Only - whether it's the inadvertently genius deconstruction of both Western action films and their Pinoy counterparts, surreal pot-addled dubbing by American expats (and Apocalypse Now survivors) Jim Gaines and Nick Nicholson, or inspired casting of every Bad Guy (or "Goon") still alive at the time, and the James Bond of the Philippines himself, Tony Ferrer aka Agent X44, as Weng Weng's boss. It all adds up to an absurdist masterpiece of gloriously bad cinema, one which was sold all over the world and became one of the Philippines' most successful exports.
Weng Weng became an instant superstar, appearing on TV and at parties, film festivals, movie openings. Liliw Productions quickly cranked out a much less successful Agent OO sequel, The Impossible Kid (1982), and a modern Pinoy western D'Wild Wild Weng (1982), starring Weng Weng as a government agent known as "Mr Weng", which doesn't appear to have made it beyond the Philippines borders. There may be other Weng Weng film appearances, including a starring role in Agent OO (c.1981) and a guest cameo alongside the stick-thin Palito's character "James Bone", but even in the Philippines information is sketchy at best, if not non-existent.
As the profits diminished, Cora Caballes moved on to a political career and Liliw Productions folded. As a result, Weng Weng found himself no longer flavour of the month and without a film career. According to his brother, his family was poor before he became famous, and afterwards remained as poor as ever. In a bizarre twist of fate, General Ramos decided to put Weng Weng through paratrooper training; this time he was given a genuine Agent badge and was sent on infiltration missions where his size would been used to its maximum advantage. Thanks to the Caballes' connections at Manila Airport, Weng Weng was seen patrolling the Arrivals Lounge in the mid-Eighties in his blue uniform as the unlikeliest "Welcome To Manila" banner.
He continued to live in the family home in Baclaran, gained weight and, according to some reports, drank heavily, and developed hypertension after a severe reaction to eating crabmeat. His health declined steadily over the next twelve to eighteen months, and he died of heart failure on 29th August 1992, just short of his 35th birthday.
The Philippines' tiniest film icon is buried in a modest white marble tomb with his parents, grandparents and great-grandmother in Pasay City Cemetary. - Actress Halina Perez was born Vanessa Uri in Perez, Quezon City in the Philippines, where she graduated from the Quezon National High School and enrolled at the Enverga University, before being transferred to Manila whereupon she embarked into show business. Halina appeared in over 10 films during her brief career, most notably in erotic Filipino thrillers and comedies. She gained fans by portraying sexy, provocative women in movies. Notable credits includes the skin flicks Kiskisan (2003), Balat Sibuyas (2002), Amorseko (Damong Ligaw)(2001) and Ikapitong Gloria (2001). Halina, her manager Isah Munio, sexpot entertainer Danna Garcel along with three others were returning to Manila after attending a grand opening of a Konica store in Legazpi City, when the car they were driving veered out of line and slammed into a van. Five of the car's passengers, including Halina, were asleep at the time of the crash, Halina was still breathing when she was pulled out of the car by rescuers, but was declared dead on arrival at the hospital after suffering a broken neck, her manager Isah Munio was also declared dead. The other four including Danna Garcel suffered fractures and minor injuries but survived the crash. She was buried at Loyola Memorial Park, Marikina City, Philippines.
- Babalu was born on 29 June 1942. He was an actor, known for Oki Doki Doc (1993), Di bale na lang (1987) and Wanted: Perfect Father (1994). He died on 28 August 1998 in Antipolo City, Philippines.
- Additional Crew
Epoy Molina is known for SineSerye (2007). Epoy was married to Cathy Garcia-Molina. Epoy died on 29 March 2009 in Baguio City, Philippines.- Erford Gage was born on 5 April 1912 in Northfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Seventh Victim (1943), Hitler's Children (1943) and Gangway for Tomorrow (1943). He died on 17 March 1945 in Manila, Philippines.
- Pepsi Paloma was born on 11 March 1966 in Manila, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Virgin People (1984), Krus sa bawat punglo (1982) and The Victim (1982). She died on 31 May 1985 in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eddie Garcia was born on 2 May 1929 in Juban, Sorsogon, Philippines. He was an actor and director, known for Atsay (1978), Saan nagtatago ang pag-ibig? (1987) and Bwakaw (2012). He died on 20 June 2019 in Makati, Philippines.- Ronaldo Valdez was born on 27 November 1947 in Manila, Philippines. He was an actor, known for Loving Someone (1993), Sukob (2006) and Nasaan ang puso (1997). He was married to Maria Fe Ilagan Gibbs. He died on 17 December 2023 in Manila, Philippines.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Lino Brocka was born on 7 April 1939 in Pilar, Sorsogon, Luzon, Philippines. He was a director and writer, known for Dirty Affair (1990), Bayan Ko (1984) and Dipped in Gold (1970). He died on 22 May 1991 in Quezon City, Philippines.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Redford White was born on 5 December 1955 in Cebu, Philippines. He was an actor and writer, known for Kokey (2007), Johnny Rambotang-go Part III (1984) and Three Men and a Lola. He was married to Elena Cermeño. He died on 25 July 2010 in Caloocan City, Philippines.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Chiquito was born on 12 March 1928 in Manila, Philippines. He was an actor and writer, known for Servillano Zapata (1970), James Bondat (1970) and Atorni Agaton: Agent Law-ko (1969). He was married to Ely "Vilma" Isidro. He died on 2 July 1997 in Makati, Philippines.- Director
- Writer
- Composer
Born October 22, 1947 in Jefferson County, Kentucky, William Brent Girdler launched his filmmaking career with the 1972 release of Asylum of Satan. He made a total of nine films in six years and provided the music for the Pat Patterson quickie Dr. Gore. Girdler died in a helicopter accident in the Philippines after completing his final movie The Manitou.
Girdler wore many hats in respect to his filmmaking, writing six of his nine films and composing the music for three. He also produced two of his own movies. His early works were filmed in his hometown of Louisville, KY with the assistance of many friends and local investors. Girdler's first two low budget horror entries, Asylum of Satan and Three on a Meathook, made only a slight impact on the drive-in movie scene, but they got his foot in the door with Sam Arkoff and AIP. Girdler subsequently made three blaxploitation films: Zebra Killer, Abby, and Sheba Baby. After his AIP stint ended, Girdler directed the political thriller Project Kill starring Leslie Nielsen. Eager to return to horror, Girdler sought finances from Edward Montoro and thus brought Grizzly and Day of the Animals into the world. Girdler hoped to strike gold when he bought the rights to Graham Masterton's 1976 best-selling novel 'The Manitou' for $50,000, and he did just that. Within three months of securing the rights, Girdler began shooting the movie with Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg in the leading roles.
William Girdler's most successful effort is Grizzly, a bleak Jaws knockoff starring a giant fuzzy bear. Made on a fairly tight budget, Grizzly ranked among the most successful films of 1976. Abby, a 1974 Exorcist rip-off which prompted a lawsuit from Warner Brothers, was also a box-office hit and made more money via domestic rentals than Blacula. Legal issues prevented Girdler from seeing profits for both films. Other box office hits born of Girdler include the Pam Grier vehicle Sheba Baby and The Manitou (a posthumous hit).- Joel Alano was born on 11 December 1965. He was an actor, known for Blusang itim (1986), Pati ba pintig ng puso? (1985) and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town! (1982). He died on 27 October 1987 in Makati City, Philippines.
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Dolphy was born on 25 July 1928 in Manila, Philippines. He was an actor and producer, known for Espadang patpat (1990), John and Marsha (1974) and Omeng Satanasia (1977). He died on 10 July 2012 in Makati City, Philippines.- JM Canlas was born on 4 March 2006 in the Philippines. He was an actor, known for ANi (2019), Kiko Boksingero (2017) and Unconditional (2020). He died on 3 August 2023 in the Philippines.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Tikoy Aguiluz was born on 23 September 1952 in the Philippines. He was a director and writer, known for Rizal in Dapitan (1997), Segurista (1996) and Biyaheng langit (2000). He died on 19 February 2024 in the Philippines.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Paquito Diaz was born on 28 May 1937 in Arayat, Pampanga, Philippines. He was an actor and director, known for Ang mananandata (1965), San Basilio (1981) and In This Corner (1982). He was married to Josefa "Nena" Gutierrez. He died on 3 March 2011 in Daraga, Albay, Philippines.- Actor
- Art Department
Lito Legaspi was born on 10 September 1941 in the Philippines. He was an actor, known for Sinong kapiling? Sinong kasiping? (1977), Ilustrado (2014) and Ang probinsyano (2015). He died on 8 September 2019 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines.- Dindo Fernando was born on 19 November 1940 in Virac, Catanduanes, Philippines. He was an actor, known for Langis at tubig (1980), Gaano kadalas ang minsan? (1982) and Magdusa ka! (1986). He died on 27 August 1987 in Manila, Philippines.
- Mark Gil was born on 25 September 1961 in Manila, Philippines. He was an actor, known for Zuma (1985), Palipat-lipat, papalit-palit (1982) and Agaw armas (1986). He was married to Maricar Jacinto-Eigenmann, Irene Celebre, Jaclyn Jose and Bing Pimentel. He died on 1 September 2014 in Manila, Philippines.