You can’t put a good woman down. This is how a person can describe
Gloria Romero. All these years, she has proven herself to be one of the
formidable actresses in Philippine showbiz industry with her talent,
beauty, glamour, and kind personality.
Gloria Galla wasn’t actually born in the Philippines but in Denver, Colorado, in 1933. She is half-Filipina, being her mother, Mary Borrego, a pure American. Her father, Pedro Galla, meanwhile, worked in America at that time.
It was supposed to be a visit in Pangasinan that prompted the entire Galla family to come here in the Philippines. However, months turned into years, until Gloria’s mother died, and she studied and graduated in Riverview High School.
Her ticket to fame could be attributed to Nario Rosales, her uncle, who worked at Sampaguita Studios as chief editor. This allowed her to visit movie and TV shoots as often as she could. Because of her innate beauty, Sampaguita decided to giver her a try, landing in cameo roles in a number of films before she was given her own bill
Kasintahan sa Pangarap, a movie she starred alongside Tita Duran and Pancho Magalona.
The transformation of Gloria, however, happened when she portrayed as the daughter of Alicia Vergel and Cesar Ramirez in
Madame X. Producers then gave her a more appealing and dramatic moniker: Gloria Romero. Soon, variety of films landed on her lap until she did Monghita in 1952, which officially sealed her credibility as a performing artist and catapulted her to sheer stardom.
Gloria was also given an opportunity to act together with the best bachelors in town at that time. These include Pancho Magalona, Ric Rodrigo, Fred Montilla, and even with
Dolphy in 1954’s
Dalagang Ilocana. It even earned her a Best Actress Award in FAMAS. However, it was her partnership with Luis Gonzales that captured the hearts of the masses and made them as one of the hottest pairs in Philippine movies. They appeared in a number of notable films, such as
Lupa sa Lupa and
Teresa.
This classic beauty loves to experiment, though, and her portfolio wasn’t only limited to dramatic movies. She also did adaptations of well-known comic characters, like
Mariposa in 1955 and
Miss Talapia in 1956. As a matter of fact, before Dolphy could ever dress himself as one of the most famous gays in towns, Gloria had already been Pacifica Falayfay. She further diversified her characters by appearing in some musical movies such as Colegiala, Pagdating ng Takipsilim, and Paru-parong Bukid.
Gloria Romero remains one of the most bankable performers today, as she lasted for several decades. She was the pakialemerang lola to
Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez in
Palibhasa Lalake and to Jolina Magdangal in Labs Ko Si Babes. In movies, she is commonly starred in several horror flicks, like in
Bahay ni Lola series and
Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Who would also forget her strong performance as a mother with Alzheimer’s disease in Tanging Yaman? She also got herself a good pair in
I Wanna Be Happy, a cute light-hearted film opposite Eddie Garcia.
Gloria Romero wouldn’t be called as the Queen of the Philippine Movies if she didn’t deserve such, with her countless awards she has received both here and abroad, and with the long list of movies and TV appearances she still has to fulfill. At the end of the day, though, she will remain as the dutiful mother to her only child, Maritess, and a wife to her then-husband Juancho Gutierrez, whom she took under her wing when he got sick until he died.
