The stars of yesteryear: Where are they now?

(First of two parts)

School opened recently for some and those who will enter prep or just start high school and especially college are going to have new classmates. I still remember the name of my very first seatmate in prep school. It was Oleron Pascual. We never became friends because when we got to Grade 1 (and the rest of elementary) we were moved to different sections. All I know of him was that they had a small supermarket (or was it just a big grocery store?) called Nora-Mart (maybe it was named after the mother) somewhere in Mandaluyong, 

Since I’m quite good at remembering names (but not faces), I still recall the names of most of my classmates in school. But since I lost touch with 98 percent of them (prep till college), I wonder often whatever became of them.

Sometimes I also ask the same kind of question regarding showbiz people of the past — those who didn’t stay long enough for the public to know what happened to them when they quit the field of entertainment.

A few months ago, I was surprised to read an item in Ricky Lo’s Funfare when Elizabeth Bankhead contacted him somewhere from the US Midwest. Ms. Bankhead was one of those cute mestiza teenyboppers in the late ’60s to the early ’70s who always appeared on television. It was heartening to find out after all these years that she is very comfortable (rich — did you say, Ricky?) and seems quite happy away from showbiz.

But I’m curious about what happened to the other stars of her generation — before her and after her? Those who did not continue with their showbiz careers? Below, I’m listing down the names of some stars who graced both big and small screens in the past, but did not stay long enough in the TV and movie profession. Maybe readers of this paper who know the whereabouts of these personalities (or why not the stars themselves?) can provide me with information as to what happened to these celebrities once upon a time. And so here we go — whatever happened to...?

Margie Tanquinctic — She hosted TV shows and acted in sitcoms and once appeared on the calendar of an oil company when we didn’t worry about the price of gas.

Chiqui Somes — She was the Chiqui Hollman of the ’60s (Hollman I know where to find her and she’s doing fine). I remember Chiqui Somes because she was the big sister of my classmate in grade school. My family says she was in the audience at our graduation in prep, but I didn’t know her then. Ms. Somes was the daughter of character actor Jose Vergara.

Eddie Miller — I think he was the screen partner of Elizabeth Bankhead. With a surname like Miller, he obviously is of mestizo stock — but I don’t recall much his face.

Jennifer and Jesette Prospero — Two sexy sisters in the movies and decades later I was told that one of them became the girlfriend of a movie writer who has already passed away.

Nancy Roman — In the movies, she was the good girl in Darna at ang Babaeng Tuod. On TV, she was a mainstay on Alright! Okay! in the old Channel 11.

Rico Roman — He was one of the leading men of Gina Pareño in Paula. Ms. Pareño — oh, can you imagine how to this day she still continues to receive international acclaim? But what became of some of her leading men in her films in Sampaguita Pictures? Whatever happened to Rico Roman?

Mary Ann Murphy — One of the mestiza beauties on TV and in the movies. Until the early ’70s, she was still doing films and one was Panginoon ng mga Kilabot with Romeo Vasquez. I remember her because when I went to Grade 3, my teacher-in-charge (her name was Carmencita de la Rea) looked like her. My teacher was a six-footer and was also very mestiza. Her best friend was a co-faculty member, who stood no taller than five feet, but that’s another story.

Mila Montañez — I only remember the name, but not the face, but she did TV and movies and in one of the films she made — the 1970 Magnificent Convict — she was the leading lady of Bernard Bonnin, father of Charlene Gonzalez.

Sonny Cortez — An American-Igorot mestizo (I hope I got his lineage right), he was paired off with Millie Mercado, half sister of Lani Mercado. Sonny was basically a singer and didn’t he marry once Via Hoffmann, sister of Joey Marquez (I’ll ask Lolit Solis that)?.

Jessica — She started out as a winner in the Miss Nite Owl contest hosted by the late Lito Gorospe. She was sweet-looking and made news by succumbing to the bomba trend of that era. Her reason for doing that? “I can’t be competing with either Nora Aunor or Vilma Santos, so I’ll just do bomba,” she said in an old magazine interview. Too bad for her, bomba movies came to an end soon after when martial law was declared. 

Thelma Kennedy — She was one of those foreign imports who couldn’t speak Tagalog, but had a career hosting Darigold Jamboree with the late Johnny Wilson and Bentot. She was also into films.

Georgina Fairy — I think she was Aussie and she appeared mostly in movies (one was Kidnappers with Tony Ferrer and Divina Valencia) and once had a scene where she did a nude scene that showed her full behind — and that was shown on primetime TV.

Linda Martin — She did a lot of movies in the early ’70s, but played mostly supporting parts (one was Revenge of the Pistoleros with the Lapid brothers — Rolly, Rex, Raul and Rey). Apparently, she was good at her roles because she was even nominated at the 1970 FAMAS, but lost to Hilda Koronel in Santiago. She also did the rounds of TV later, but eventually quit the business.

Manny de Leon — He became the leading man of Nora Aunor after Tirso Cruz III. Theirs was also a popular tandem. Decades later, when I finally got to talk to Nora during an interview, she revealed that their working relationship wasn’t really all that pleasant. Manny disappeared from the scene when Nora moved on to become a more serious actress. Whatever happened to Manny de Leon? When last heard from — many, many years ago — it was full of speculations and, sadly, those bits of information about him were unpleasant.

(To be continued)