Emerenciana Ortiz Santos (July 21, 1937 – August 8, 2017), professionally known as Zeny Zabala, was a Filipina actress. Born and raised in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina ( fil, Lungsod ng Marikina), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 456,159 people. It is loca ...

, she was known as the

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was es ...

for her frequent roles as a villainess in her films.

Early life

The fourth child among nine siblings, Zabala was born in Marikina on April 21, 1937 to shoemaker Enrique Santos and Ursula Ortiz.

Career

She was discovered when she was accompanying her sister Caridad who was then in the film industry in 1953. Her first role was as a mother in the 1953 film ''Siga-Siga'' who dies giving birth to the character of

Anita Linda Alice Bueñaflor Lake (November 23, 1924 – June 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Anita Linda, was a Filipino film actress. A romantic lead in her youth, she later gained critical acclaim for her portrayals in maternal or elderly ...

. As a result of her film career, she was forced to drop out from high school in her 2nd year. Her first movie for

was ''Binibining Kalog'' opposite

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and

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, and she later married actor Rodolfo "Boy" Garcia on June 30, 1958. In 1963, Zabala became a freelance actress. In 1964, Zabala earned her first

FAMAS The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Ste ...

acting nomination as Best Supporting Actress for ''Ang Bukas Ay Akin!'', topbilled by Charito Solis and Nestor de Villa. In the same year, she remarried with director Ben Feleo. In the mid-1960s, Zabala began establishing businesses in Marikina outside her film career, such as a restaurant called Zeny Zabala's Canteen near the town's Shoe Trade Fair, a shoe-making shop called LeConstant Shoe Shop, and a furniture store. Zabala is soon offered by businessman Narciso G. Isidro, the grandfather of singer

Agot Isidro Maria Margarita Amada Fteha Isidro (born July 20, 1966), known professionally as Agot Isidro, is a Filipino actress. She is the fourth of the six children of Jose Isidro, an architect, and Palestinian mother Edwarta Fteha. She graduated from t ...

, a lead role in the film ''Ruby'', to be produced by his newly established film studio in Marikina called NGI Productions. In the 1980s, she continued to appear in more Dolphy films such as ''Kalabog en Bosyo Strike Again'' (1985) and her last known big screen appearance, ''Tataynic'' (1998), both directed by her husband Ben, who died in 2011. She co-starred with

Vilma Santos Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (, born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, producer, and politician. She served as a House Deputy Speaker since 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district since ...

Marilou Diaz-Abaya Marilou Correa Diaz-Abaya (March 30, 1955 – October 8, 2012) was a Filipina multi-award winning film director. She was conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022, she was the founder and pres ...

's ''Baby Tsina'' in 1984, and appeared as Santos' cruel mother-in-law in Chito Roño's '' Ikaw Lang'' in 1991. She joined the cast of '' John en Marsha'' in 1982 as the mother of Madel, Rolly Puruntong's wife.

Death

Zabala died on August 8, 2017, aged 80 in Manila, Philippines.

Filmography

Film

References

External links

Biodata
newsflash.org; accessed 22 August 2017.
The mark of ZZ
asianjournal.com; accessed 22 August 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabala, Zeny 1934 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Filipino film actresses Filipino television actresses Filipino women in business People from Marikina