Still a glorious career at 78

Step back, Susan Roces, Amalia Fuentes, Vilma Santos, Nora Aunor and Sharon Cuneta. You, too, Judy Ann Santos!

We respect your lofty positions in the entertainment kingdom and love each one of you, but make way for the truest of movie queens amongst you: Ms. Gloria Romero, who just turned 78.

I’m happy that GMA 7 where she appears in a very important role in the consistently top-rating Munting Heredera gave her a party during her birthday last Dec. 16. Oh, how she blushed  like she was the 16-year-old Mabini, Pangasinan fresh high school graduate who tried her luck in show business and ended up a movie queen.

What is most impressive is the fact that way after her official reign, she had remained the most durable among showbiz royalties. She commands respect, forever beloved and with her name remaining untarnished after more than 60 years in the profession.

May her soul rest in peace, but even legendary Yankee actress Bette Davis was already a caricature toward her remaining years on earth. But Philippine showbiz’s Gloria Romero continues to be held in high esteem by a very finicky public that treats entertainment people like disposable diapers.

So what is her secret to showbiz longevity? Read on:

• She has patience. Gloria was not an instant star. Before she became a Sampaguita property, Premiere Productions had already turned her away.

At Sampaguita where she even had an uncle working for the company and therefore had what is called today as “connect,” she still languished for quite some time as an extra  a mere face in the crowd.

Before she could even figure out if, indeed, she really had a future as an actress, Sampaguita was razed to the ground along with the film outfit’s already in the can releases. Those had to be re-shot  with everyone in the company willing to redo everything for nothing. Gloria was among them.

•She is professional. In one dance sequence where a big toenail got caught on the slats of the wooden floor and flew off (ouch!), she had the exposed toe wrapped in adhesives and asked that it be painted red to match the rest of her pedicure and went on with the scene.

Film sequences may look brief on screen, but those take long to shoot. Gloria just kept dancing complete with a wide smile. Never mind if the pain was killing her  imagine a whole toenail pulled off! But as soon as the director shouted wrap, she passed out. That experience obviously was excruciatingly painful. However, she went on and finished the chore.

Even at a later age when she was doing Palibhasa Lalake, she never made demands. Never mind if Joanna Gomez (now Mrs. Alex Santos, the respected broadcaster) was then the most accommodating among ABS-CBN’s executive producers.

Although Palibhasa Lalake had a very effective script by Joey Reyes, the show’s success was due to the ad-libs and unplanned antics the cast members played on each other. There were instances, unfortunately, when the situation went too riotous for comfort.

To bring order to the set, one time, director Johnny Manahan connived with Gloria and instructed her that if the scenario had gone uncontrollable, all she had to do was collapse on the floor to shut everyone up.

 That’s a walk in the park for any actress worth her salt. But given the condition of the studio floors of ABS-CBN in 1988 when the company was still operating like a cottage industry with filthy surroundings, a diva would have called first for the entire janitorial team of Mila del Sol before making contact with the surface beneath. But Gloria will always be a trouper. On the floor she threw herself.

After the scene, Amy Perez and Cynthia Patag told her: “Ano ba kayo, Tita Glo, that floor is so dirty!” That served as an example to the two younger stars on how it is to be a pro.  

• She was never billing-conscious. Showbiz old-timers called it “billingitis.” Gloria never had that. A memorable star quote that I used for this paper’s anniversary issue last July came from her: “Sometimes my name was up there. Sometimes it was down there. There were times when it wasn’t even there.”

Even in the ‘70s when every other director was turning her into an unglamorous aswang with an “also starring” billing, they never heard anything from her.

• She is a true actress. She must be the most versatile, along with the late Nida Blanca. Although widely recognized for her dramatic prowess, critic Nestor Torre swears Gloria does the meanest impressions of everyone around her. She is brilliant at both drama and comedy.

No other actress can match Gloria’s legendary career. (Rosa Rosal is in another category  all by herself.) Even the movie queens after her will take the backseat for her because they all love, admire and respect her.

We will accord each one of them the same tribute  when they reach 78. And only if their respective careers remain as luminous as Gloria Romero’s at that age.