Gloria Romero

Gloria Anne Borrego Galla, known professionally as Gloria Romero (Tagalog: [ˈɡloɾja ɾɔˈmɛɾɔ]), is a Filipino actress. With a career spanning 70 years, she has appeared in over 250 motion pictures and television productions. Referred to as the "Queen of Philippine Cinema", she is known for her sophisticated and demure image. She is one of the major stars of the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema in the 1950s to mid 1960s, becoming the country's highest paid movie actress and one of the top box-office draws of the era. Romero began appearing as a background actor in films at age 16. After playing minor roles in early 1950s, she was first introduced by her stage name in a supporting role in Madame X (1952). She won the FAMAS Award for Best Actress for playing a wacky tobacco-smoking maiden in Dalagang Ilocana (1954). She continued to gain commercial success for her starring roles in romantic comedies, played characters popularized in comic strips and remakes of pre-war musical films. She also played a number of antagonist roles in the ensuing decades and ventured television in the 1990s and was cast in the sitcom Palibhasa Lalake, for which she won the Star Award for Best Comedy Actress. Romero had commercial and critical resurgence in the early 2000s for playing the matriarch in the family drama Tanging Yaman (2000). She won the Metro Manila Film Festival for Best Supporting Actress for her role in I Think I'm in Love (2002), followed by the Gawad Urian for Best Supporting Actress for playing a grandmother in Magnifico (2003). She also won the Golden Screen Award for Best Actress for her role in Fuchsia (2009), a Star Award for Movie Actress of the Year for her role in Tarima (2010) and a Metro Manila Film Festival for Best Actress for her role in Rainbow's Sunset (2018). From 2017 to 2020, she starred and presented the fantasy anthology Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko. Romero has been the recipient of numerous honorary accolades. She was presented with the PAMA-AS Gintong Bai in 2005 by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for her significant contributions to the preservation and development of Philippine arts and culture. In 2009, she became the first recipient of MTRCB's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2024, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, alongside FAMAS (2004), Gawad Urian (2004) and Luna Awards (2002) have each awarded her the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Philippine Postal Corporation also honored her with a commemorative stamp in 2022 for dedicating her life and talent to the Filipino people. She received a star on the Eastwood City Walk of Fame in 2005.