ALL ABOUT NORA AUNOR

NORA CABALTERA VILLAMAYOR of Iriga, Camarines Sur, was a frail 12-year-old when fate brought her to the gates of superstardom. Her parents needed money for an older sister's tuition. Nora, who loved to sing and listen to pop music, volunteered to join "Darigold Jamboree," a popular radio program that was bringing its amateur singing contest to the nearby town of Naga. The prize money of 20 pesos was the exact amount her parents needed. Packing a second-hand dress that her mother, Antonia, had altered for her, Nora left with a family friend for the two-hour trip to Naga. It was to be her first stop on the long and winding road to fame.

In Naga, she won the "Darigold Jamboree" singing contest with her rendition of "You and the Night and the Music." And it was again in Naga, not long afterward, that she won another contest sponsored by a rival radio program, "The Liberty Big Show." Darigold and Liberty were the leading milk brand then. Her dual victory gave her the courage to audition for a national amateur singing contest on TV. Nora and her mother set out for Manila. They stayed with Antonia's sister, Belen Aunor, who volunteered to take Nora to the studios for the auditions. They agreed that Belen would pose as Nora's mother or guardian. To avoid any further questions from being asked, Nora borrowed her aunt's surname. Thus was born Nora Aunor.

On "Darigold Jamboree's Bulilit” contest on Channel 11, Nora Aunor reigned as undefeated champion for 14 weeks. Then she set out to conquer "Tawag ng Tanghalan", at the time the most prestigious amateur singing contest. She won against the night's competition, but in the ensuing bout with the reigning champion, Jose Yap, Nora's anxiety surfaced. She stuttered and missed a line and tasted defeat.

The diminutive Nora resolved to return with a vengeance. She practiced at home and accepted all invitations to public function, where she sang for free. When she felt that she was ready, she auditioned again for "Tawag." She went on to win for 14 straight weeks.

Nora Aunor then turned professional. For Citation Records. she waxed "Moonlight Becomes You" with which she bagged the "Tawag" grand prize. Channel 13 hired her to join the evening program "Oras ng Ligaya." DZXL gave her a spot on "Operetang Putol-Putol," and "Fiesta Extravaganza" hosts Ike Lozada and German Moreno frequently invited her to guest on their radio program.

As singer and recording star, Aunor literally broke records with her hit albums like Nora Aunor Sings: Mga Awiting Pilipino (Nora Aunor Sings Filipino Songs), Awitin ng Puso (Songs of the Heart), Mga Awiting Pamasko (Christmas Songs), and Ang Tindera (The Vendor).

The new singing sensation attracted the attention of Sampaguita Picture's top man, Dr, Jose Perez. She had previously been turned down by four other movie outfits, but was later offered an eight-picture non-exclusive contract with Sampaguita on October 2, 1967, with the assurance that she would initially be given singing parts.

True enough, in All Over World and Way Out of the Country, her first two movie appearances, she sang with her former "Tawag ng Tanghalan" opponent, Jose Yap. She also guested in youth-oriented flicks produced by Vera-Perez Pictures and United Brothers Production. In her 12th movie, Young Girl, she was given her first feature role opposite the young mestizo actor Tirso Cruz III. But it was Tower productions that trusted Nora Aunor with a title role, in "D' Musical Teenage Idols”, opposite Tirso Cruz III. The movie's director, Artemio Marquez, was advised by colleagues not to take on the project lest Nora Aunor's diminutive and negra looks bring him a flop. Marquez was undaunted. The movie became a smash hit.

Three days after D' Musical Teenage Idols premiered, Sampaguita Pictures released its 34th-anniversary presentation, another Nora-Tirso starrer, Fiesta Extravaganza, which also grossed big time at the tills. Nora, the little brown girl from Bicol, had become Philippine filmdom's Golden Girl. She had shattered the viewing public's preference for fair-skinned and statuesque leading ladies, and was now a certified box-office princess.

She also starred in her own TV musical variety show that ran for over two decades, starting as the Nora-Eddie Show with Eddie Peregrina in 1967, becoming The Nora Aunor Show in 1968, and Superstar from 1971 to 1989.

By this time, the public had come to love her Cinderella story, and many young actors lined up to serve as her Prince Charming. Nora and Tirso, or Guy & Pip, as the fans endearingly called them made teeny-bopper movies like Orang; Nasaan Ka Inay?; I Dream of Nora; Young at Heart; Guy & Pip; Always In My Heart; My Blue Hawaii; A Gift of Love; Nora, Mahal Kita, and Winter Holiday. Manny de Leon was Nora's screen partner in Nora, the Single Girl; Teenage Jamboree; Tell Nora I Love Her; Darling; Nora in Wonderland; The Golden Voice of Nora; and Around Asia with Nora;. She also paired with Edgar Mortiz in My Beloved, with Ricky Belmonte in My Prayer, and with singer Sajid Kahn in The Singing Filipina. Cocoy Laurel, another mestizo matinee idol, was her leading man in Lollipops & Roses, the movie that featured then Hollywood unknown Don Johnson. It was at this time that Nora earned the monicker Superstar.

Nora Aunor eventually graduated from teen icon to dramatic actress. Her acting received official recognition for the first time in 1972, with her 53rd film, And God Smiled at Me. She was nominated for best actress by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), and was awarded the best actress trophy by the Quezon City Film Festival board of jurors. Eager to explore her options in the entertainment industry, Nora established a movie production company, NV Productions, and produced Carmela, which she also starred in. Nora made a movie with Joseph Estrada, Erap Is My Guy, before making another film under NV Productions, Paru-Parong Itim. By then, she was no longer just an actress but a major player in the industry.

Her 1973 film, Dalawang Mukha ng Tagumpay, earned Nora her second FAMAS nomination. 1974 saw her paired with different leading men, Walter Navarro in Somewhere Over the Rainbow; Dindo Fernando, Jay Ilagan, and Ronaldo Valdez in the trilogy Fe, Esperanza, Caridad; Victor Wood in As Long As There's Music; and Dolphy and Fernando Poe Jr in Happy Days Are Here Again.

In 1974, Nora produced and starred in another movie, Banaue, this time with fast rising actor Christopher de Leon. She married her co-star secretly months before their movie premiered in April 1975. The movie brought Nora not only a husband but a nomination from FAMAS as well. That same year, Nora got pregnant, but she made one more film, Lollipops & Roses at Burong Talangka, before she gave birth to son Kristoffer Ian.

After starring in two critically acclaimed movies in 1976, Nora came to be regarded as an acting heavyweight. The period piece TATLONG TAONG WALANG DIYOS bagged for Nora her first best-actress trophies - from the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, which gives out the Gawad Urian, and from FAMAS – the first grandslam win by any actor so to speak since these two were the only award-giving bodies then. Although she only received an acting nomination for Minsa'y Isang Gamu-Gamo, the film itself garnered five FAMAS awards, including one for best picture. In Bakya Mo Neneng with Joseph Estrada in 1977 Nora was not nominated by any award-giving body, but the film was the FAMAS best picture for that year.

Despite the newfound prestige that the awards had given her, Nora continued to make movies that were produced solely for entertainment. Her 100th film was based on a Carlo J. Caparas komiks character, Bakekang.

In between making comedies, melodramas, and musicals, Nora took on challenging assignments that won her more awards and recognition. Her second Urian nomination came with her second film with the late Ishmael Bernal, Ikaw Ay Akin, which put her in a love triangle with Vilma Santos and then estranged husband Christopher de Leon.

In the 1978 Metro Manila film Festival (MMFF), Nora had two films, Atsay, directed by Eddie Garcia won for her the festival judges' nod for the Best Performer, while Jack En Jill of the Third Kind, with comedy king Dolphy, was a festival box-office hit. In between her musical blockbusters Annie Batungbakal and Bongga Ka 'Day!, Nora made a film opposite Lolita Rodriguez under the direction of the late Lino Brocka. Ina Ka Ng Anak Mo was praised by critics and won for her the best actress awards from MMFF and FAMAS. The troika of Brocka, Nora, and actor Phillip Salvador made two movies in 1980, Nakaw Na Pag-Ibig and Bona. For the latter, Nora got her secod Urian award. Mario O' Hara directed Nora in the 1981 drama Bakit Bughaw ang Langit? which won for Nora her first Catholic Mass Media Award (CMMA) best actress trophy.

Early in 1982, the newly formed Experimental Cinema of the Philippines (ECP) hosted a scriptwriting contest. One of the only two projects that were eventually filmed was Ricardo Lee's Himala. Ishmael Bernal megged the film in which Nora played one of her most famous characters, Elsa, a faith healer who unknowingly turns her sleepy town into a tourist attraction, then gets raped, made pregnant, and finally assassinated by a religious fanatic. Although critically acclaimed, the movie only gave Nora the best-actress award from the 1982 MMFF and a nomination from the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP).

By this time, the 30-year old actress was slowing down. In 1983 she made only one major film, Minsan May Isang Ina, with Maryo J. delos Reyes, and guested in Bad Bananas sa Puting Tabing. Early 1984, Nora went to the United States to shoot ‘Merika with director Gil Portes. For her role as a migrant nurse, she received the first best-actress Star Award from the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC). Bulaklak sa City Jail, a 1984 MMFF entry saw Nora being nominated by five award giving bodies and winning in four - MMFF, CMMA, Star Awards, and FAMAS. For the glossy 1985 Viva flick, Tinik sa Dibdib, Nora was a three time nominee but not a winner.

The next three years saw Nora starring in weepy melodramas like Tatlong Ina, Isang Anak, surefire box-office comedies like My Bugoy Goes to Congress, and pulp romances like Sana Mahalin Mo Ako. From 1989 to 1991 she made only one movie a year. Elwood Perez's Bilangin Ang Mga Bituin Sa Langit in 1989 got her three acting awards (Urian, FAMAS, and FAP), but it was Gil Portes's Andrea, Paano Ba Ang Maging Isang Ina? in 1990 that brought her second grandslam, winning as best actress in all five award-giving bodies - Urian, Star, FAMAS, FAP, and MMFF. Another Elwood Perez movie, Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M, earned Nora the FAP and Star Awards. It also led to her sixth best-actress trophy from the MMFF, as a result of which the jurors gave her special citation, the Gawad ng Natatanging Pagkilala.

In 1992 Nora did not star in any film but was elevated to the FAMAS Hall of Fame. She received the FAP Lifetime Achievement Award the following year, during which time the public saw her in only two movie – Ligaw-ligawan, Kasal-kasalan, Bahay-bahayan with Joey Gosiengfiao, and Inay, her 19th film with director Artemio Marquez.

She also conquered the legitimate stage when she performed in two major Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) productions, Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo (Once There Was a Moth), 1992, and DH (Domestic Helper), 1992. She also appeared in Trojan Women with Cecile Guidote-Alvarez staged at the amphitheater of the Parks and Wildlife.

Nora made six films before the end of the millenium – The Flor Contemplacion Story; Muling Umawit ang Puso; Bakit May Kahapon Pa?; Mama, Dito Sa Aking Puso; Babae; and Sidhi. Nora’s performance in the true-to-life drama The Flor Contemplacion Story, megged by Joel Lamangan, was critically acclaimed locally (Urian, Star, FAP) and internationally (Cairo International Filmfest). The Penang International Film Festival named her best actress for Bakit May Kahapon Pa?, another Lamangan film. She was last seen on the silver screen via the movie Naglalayag in 2004 which won for her a best actress trophy from the Manila Film Festival and her third international acting recognition from the Brussels International Film Festival.

In 1999, her contribution to Philippine cinema was acknowledged by the Cultural Center of the Philippines when it included her among the recipients of the Centennial Honors for the Arts, given to 100 Filipinos who made significant contributions to culture and the arts in the 20th century. Nora was earlier recognized as one of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) in the Field of the Arts in 1983.

Thanks to Mike G. Rivera, Ms. Lynn Pareja, Armando L. Diaz and YES Magazine.