Other Starlets, Stars and Movies

Other Starlets, Stars and Movies

This page contains an assortment of information about other bold actresses, actors and movies.

Lesbian Scenes

In addition to the lesbian scenes shown on the pages for Barbara Benitez, Didith RomeroMaria Isabel Lopez and Myrna Castillo, there were two great girl-on-girl scenes in When Good Girls Go Wrong (1987, Avon Cortez, Dianne, Isadora):

    

as well as a hot scene from Island of Desire (1987, actresses unknown):

     

 

Bold Actors

Although this website is dedicated to the beautiful bold Pinays from the 80’s, there would have been few bold films without  accompanying actors. Here are a few of the bold men:

George Estregan

George was one of, if not the, most famous and accomplished dramatic lead actors of the era. Born in 1939, he was a three time FAMAS award winner. He starred in over 170 action and drama movies between 1963 and 1988. Several hardcore “Pene” videos surfaced in the 80’s showing him having sex with various actresses he costarred with.

  

Often these were hardcore clips of actual scenes from his movie. Explicit footage was cut out of the film before it was released in theaters. George was in his mid to late 40’s during the bold 80’s, and some of the actresses were younger than his own daughter, but his public image was never tarnished by these explicit videos. He died from bone cancer in 1988 at the age of 48, and still remains a popular Filipino movie icon from the 70’s and 80’s.

Mark Joseph

Known during the 80’s as the “Pene King”, Mark Joseph (real name, Ricardo Sarzuello) was the boldest leading actor of the era. After unsuccessfully trying to break into movies as a leading man, only to languish on the sidelines, he accepted an offer to appear in the bold film Babasagin. “I used that as a stepping stone,” he recounted in an interview years later. “I did bold roles because I wanted to make a name for myself.”  Over the next four years, he starred in dozens of bold movies, among them, Silip (1985), Bold Star (1986), Black Diary (1986), Kiri (1986), and Hudas (1987). He actually had sex with his leading ladies in the films, although these “Pene” shots were edited out for theatrical release. He later explained that they had sex on camera because the realism would “make a good film.” Although he kept his personal life private, he was happily married, with children, during his reign as “Pene King.”

  

Joseph switched to action films in 1990 with moderate success. In 1991, he began producing his own films, but lost money and left the entertainment business.  He studied chiropractic in the U.S. at the University of the Art of Healing in California from 1992-1995, then returned to the Philippines, where he was a licensed chiropractor in Quezon City. He also sold medical equipment.

Daniel Fernando

Daniel wasn’t a prolific “Pene” film star like George and Mark, but is mentioned because he starred in two of the most famous Philippine bold films from the 80’s. He began his four-decade-long acting career costarring with Anna Marie Gutierrez in the sizzling erotic classic, Scorpio Nights when he was 23. His next major role was in Macho Dancer (1988), in which he played a gay dancer in Manila gay bars. The film’s frank depiction of homosexuality, prostitution, and sex caused the Filipino government to censor it heavily, but like many bold Pinay movies, uncensored versions later surfaced. Daniel transitioned from film to television in 1998, and also began a career in politics. He is currently Vice Governor of the Province of Bulacan.

  

Talent Agents

Rey dela Cruz

A self-proclaimed “star builder,” Rey dela Cruz was one of the most controversial Filipino movie figures of the 80’s. A Doctor of Optometry turned movie talent agent, dela Cruz achieved notorious success by finding beautiful, impoverished young Filipinas and building them into bold actresses. In spotting potential stars, he intentionally avoided “beauty queens and middle-class women,” instead looking for poor, “ordinary persons because they’ll be sincere and persevering.” His discoveries included Lampel Cojuangco, Myrna Castillo, Sarsi Emmanuelle, Pepsi Paloma, Coca Nicolas, and Myra Manibog, among others. Accused in the media of being a glorified pimp, dela Cruz at one point was charged in court for the exploitation of minors, since some of his starlets were significantly underage –Pepsi was barely thirteen when he signed her to the bold film Brown Emmanuelle– but he was never convicted. See-True, a then-popular TV talk show that mostly featured film personalities, identified him as their most controversial guest.

His reputation was made more infamous when Pepsi was found dead in 1985 of an apparent suicide. In a 1986 interview, dela Cruz stated, “I don’t understand why people take my controversial status against me. I provide a living for my discoveries, I give the masses the entertainment they want, and I make a living in the process.” In 1987, dela Cruz was shot to death in the optical clinic where he lived. His murder was never solved.

Myrna Castillo

Myrna Castillo

When controversial talent agent Rey dela Cruz discovered her, Myrna Castillo’s family was reportedly so poor that Myrna was sleeping in a chicken coop in Tondo. Her hardworking mother was a widow, doing her best to support her children in the squalid conditions they lived in. Dela Cruz, an optometrist by vocation, was also a film talent scout -a self-proclaimed “star builder” because of his success at turning impoverished, pretty young girls into movie celebrities.

Myrna was fifteen when he found her in 1980. In a Cinderella story that made tabloid and newspaper headlines, she went from living in squalor and selling bananas after school, to staring in her first film, Ito and Babae, in 1980. Her 17-year acting career spanned over 30 movies. Like many of dela Cruz’s actresses, she starred in numerous bold films, such as Brown Emmanuelle (1982), Virgin People (1984), and When Good Girls Go Wrong (1987). Many cut, explicit “Pene” clips of her exist.

  

There was even a censored lesbian scene from Hudas (1987). Here is the scene as it appeared in the theater:

  

And here are stills from the cut footage:

  

Maria Isabel Lopez

Maria Isabel Lopez

Maria Isabel Lopez stands out from the other bold stars of the 80’s for her achievements both before and after her sexy movies. Born in Cagayan de Oro City in 1957, Maria Isabel studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. In 1982, she entered the Binibining Pilipinas Universe pageant. For her final pageant question, she was asked by judge Rita Gomez if she was still a virgin. Setting the stage for the liberated and controversial celebrity she would later become, the twenty-four-year-old beauty fired back, “Will it make me win the crown if I said yes?” She did win the title, and later that year represented the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant in Lima, Peru. Though she did not win, she entered show business after the pageant and went on to become one of the most sought after actresses in the Philippines.

Her first film was the 1983 big budget production Sana Bukas Pa Ang Kahapon. The following year she made a daring career move by staring in the bold movie, Isla. This was followed by a string of bold movies-

  

  

-which included explicit Pene scenes, as well as two of the most sizzling lesbian sex scenes in Philippine cinema: with Barbara Luna in Heartache City (1985); and with Stella Suarez, Jr. in Mga Nakaw Na Sandali (1986). (As a side note, in 2007 Ms. Lopez admitted to actually having had several lesbian affairs.)

  

Her bold movies did not tarnish her film career. Maria Isabel remained active in show business and went on to many acclaimed movie roles. In 2009 she won the Golden Screen Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Brilliante Mendoza’s movie Kinatay. She walked the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival in France for that same film. Over the years, she won five other supporting actress awards and was nominated eight additional times for supporting or lead actress roles. Maria Isabel continues a busy acting schedule in both film and television. She remains a stunning beauty.

In addition to her acting accomplishments, she was a Secretary of the NCCA National Commission for Culture and Arts Committee on Visual Arts, and a Line Producer of Independent Films. She is separated from her husband, Japanese national Hiroshi Yokohama. They have two children. Their daughter, Mara Lopez, is also now an actress.