A few years ago, Kuya Germs negotiated with the management of Araneta Center in Cubao, QC to allocate a part of the shopping complex for such a Walk of Fame. But nothing came out of the negotiations.
Learned that Kuya Germs is asking for suggestions as to whose names should first be put in that proposed Walk of Fame.
Funfare suggests that the first names to be considered ought to be the stars of pre-World War II vintage, many if not all of whom are dead, shining in another world.
In consultation with Danny Dolor, film buff and Remember When? columnist, Funfare comes up with this list of veteran actors and actresses who deserve a slot in Kuya Germs’ Walk of Fame.
Here they are in no particular order:
Atang de la Rama (National Artist for theater and music and the star of the first all-Filipino film, Dalagang Bukid), Rosa del Rosario, Carmen Rosales, Elsa Oria (singing sweetheart), Mila del Sol, Mona Lisa (earlier billed Fleur de Lis), Corazon Noble, Rosario Moreno, Lucita Goyena, Yolanda Marquez (socialite Mary Prieto), Amparo Karagdag, Fely Vallejo, Mary Walter, Naty Fernandez and Lilian Velez, Ely Ramos, Pol Salcedo, Pempe Padilla, Roger de la Rosa, Rudy Concepcion, Fernando Poe Sr., Tito Arevalo, Carlos Padilla, Manuel Conde, Serafin Garcia, Ernesto La Guardia, Domingo Principe and Fred Cortes.
The list of actresses and actors is by no means complete. Funfare further suggests to Kuya Germs and company to undertake a research on the stars of pre-World War II, starting in the ’20s or even earlier.
After World War II, it’s easier to track down the stars who shone brightest, from the mid-’40s to the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s up to the new millennium.
German Moreno, Master Showman and starmaker, deserves a special place in that Walk of Fame. Kuya Germs is expected to protest, reasoning he is honoring the stars of Philippine cinema and not himself. Agree – but that Walk of Fame will be incomplete without his star adorning it.
Kuya Germs is a legend, a pillar of showbiz, starting as janitor and telonero of Clover and becoming actor-director, TV host (think of That’s Entertainment, his Sunday noontime extravaganzas and the ongoing Walang Tulugan), starmaker and long-reigning president of the Actors Guild. What an achievement. He deserves all the accolades accorded him by his peers, including a lifetime achievement award from the Film Academy of the Philippines.
By the way, Kuya Germs is also responsible for making Quezon City the City of Stars.
But back to the proposed Walk of Fame at Eastwood City.
Needless to say, the big stars of the mid-’40s and downward will have a place in the Walk of Fame.
Think of Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, Gloria Romero, Nida Blanca, Ramon Revilla, Nestor de Villa, Mario Montenegro, Delia Razon, Lilia Dizon, Rita Gomez, Ric Rodrigo, Luis Gonzales, Armando Goyena, Lolita Rodriguez, Anita Linda, Marlene Dauden, Tessie Quintana, Alicia Vergel, Cesar Ramirez, Erlinda Cortez, Oscar Moreno, Jaime de la Rosa, Edna Luna, Arsenia Francisco, Paraluman, Fred Montilla, Eddie del Mar, Tessie Agana, Linda Estrella, Barbara Perez, Robert Arevalo, Norma Blancaflor, Rebecca Gonzales, Leila Morena, Nena Cardenas, Efren Reyes, Leroy Salvador, Myrna Delgado, Rosa Rosal and Tony Santos Sr.
Funfare stops counting when it reaches the ’50s, the golden decade of Philippine movies.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)