Gloria Romero

Gloria Romero (; born Gloria Anne Borrego Galla; December 16, 1933 – January 25, 2025) was an American-born Filipino actress. Regarded as the "Queen of Philippine Cinema", she has appeared in more than 300 film and television productions throughout her career that spanned seven decades. She was Philippines' highest paid movie star of the 1950s and became the biggest box-office draw of the period.

Romero began appearing as a background actor at the age of 16. She made her feature film debut with a secondary role in ''Madame X'' (1952) and won the FAMAS Award for Best Actress for her performance as a tobacco-smoking maiden in ''Dalagang Ilocana'' (1954). She attained stardom with leading roles in romantic comedy, remakes of pre-war musical films, and adaptations of comic strips, such as ''Monghita'' (1952), ''Cofradia'' (1953), ''Kurdapya'' (1954), ''Sino ang Maysala?'' (1957), ''Hong Kong Holiday'' (1957), ''Paru-Parong Bukid'', ''Alaalang Banal'' (both in 1958), ''Ikaw ang Aking Buhay'' (1959), ''Sumpaan Natin'' (1960), ''Jukebox Jamboree'' (1964) and ''Iginuhit ng Tadhana'' (1965).

After parting ways with Sampaguita Pictures in mid-1960s, Romero became a freelancer and began playing more mature, darker, and morally ambiguous characters in ''Lipad, Darna Lipad!'' (1973), ''Condemned'' (1984), ''Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig'' (1987), ''Nagbabagang Luha'' (1988), and ''Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit'' (1989). During this period, Romero started appearing in various television productions including in sitcom ''Palibhasa Lalake'' (1987) and ''Familia Zaragoza'' (1996). She received newfound attention and success in the 2000s and 2010s for her roles in ''Tanging Yaman'' (2000), ''Bahay ni Lola'' (2001), ''Magnifico'' (2003), ''Tarima'' (2010) and ''Rainbow's Sunset'' (2018), the latter being her final film role.

Romero has been the recipient of numerous honorary accolades, including Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2005, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in 2009, and Film Development Council of the Philippines in 2024. In 2022, the Philippine Postal Corporation featured her in a commemorative stamp. Romero was posthumously conferred the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2025. Provided by Wikipedia