Lito Legaspi (born Ludovico Angeles Legaspi; September 10, 1941 – September 8, 2019) was a Filipino actor both in film and television in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was the father of actors Zoren Legaspi, Kier Legaspi, and Brando Legaspi. He won

Gawad Urian Award The Gawad Urian Awards are annual film awards in the Philippines presented since 1977 by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (), a Film criticism, film critic organization composed of critics, writers, and scholars. It is the regarded as the h ...

for Best Supporting Actor in '' Sinong Kapiling? Sinong Kasiping?'' (1977).

Early life

He was born in Marikina City (when it was still part of Rizal) to Augusto Legaspi and Florentino Angeles. He has 10 siblings namely Mori, Mario, Bely, Boy,Resty, Charing, Procer, Lita, Marylynne and Marissa.

Early career

He appeared in 1959 comedy film ''Ipinagbili Kami Ng Aming Tatay'', starring

Dolphy Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (July 25, 1928 – July 10, 2012), known professionally as Dolphy, was a Filipino comedian and actor. He is widely regarded as the country's "King of Comedy" for his comedic talent embodied by his long roster of works ...

. In 1963,

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 e ...

introduced Legaspi together with teenage stars such as Rosemarie Sonora,

Gina Pareño Gina Pareño (; born Geraldine Acthley, October 20, 1947) is a Filipino actress. She is referred to as the "Queen of Philippine Melodrama", being best known for her award-winning portrayals in films like '' Kubrador'', ''Service (film), Serbis' ...

, Dindo Fernando, Pepito Rodriguez, Romeo Rivera and Bert Leroy, Jr., among others. Legaspi made his debut in Sampaguita Pictures' Lab na Lab Kita alongside

Susan Roces Jesusa Purificación Levy Sonora-Poe (July 28, 1941 – May 20, 2022), known professionally as Susan Roces (), was a Filipino actress. She was the wife of Ronald Allan Kelley Poe, better known as Fernando Poe Jr. Roces was regarded as the "Que ...

then appeared in Joey, Eddie and Lito, paired with Liberty Ilagan. He became a matinee idol like Eddie Gutierrez, Jose Mari Gonzales, Romeo Vasquez, Greg Martin and Juancho Gutierrez. After his contract with Sampaguita expired, he went freelancing in the '70s. He played an impotent husband in the movie ''Uhaw'' (1970) with Merle Fernandez and Tito Galla, directed by Ruben Abalos.

Later career

He played Mayor Joaquin Montejo in '' Esperanza'' on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

, starring

Judy Ann Santos Judy Anne Lumagui Santos-Agoncillo (born May 11, 1978) is a Filipino actress and film producer. Prolific in film and television in the Philippines, and is known for her dramatic and comedic roles in blockbusters and independent films, as w ...

in 1997. He also played as Governor in'' Makapiling Kang Muli'',

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

's primetime television series. As a veteran actor, he appeared in more than 120 movies and television shows since 1959. He was inducted to the Eastwood City Walk of Fame in December 2014 for his contribution in movie and TV acting.

Personal life

Legaspi had 3 children with Hershey, Zoren, Kier and Brando who are also prospective movie actors. His daughter-in-law (Zoren's wife), Carmina Villarroel-Legaspi is an actress and TV presenter. His grandchildren, fraternal twins Maverick and Cassandra (children of Zoren and Carmina) and Dani Barretto (daughter of Kier and actress

Marjorie Barretto Marjorie Bernardine Castelo Barretto (; born 19 May 1974) is a Filipino former actress and politician. She also served as the city councilor of second district of Caloocan from 2007 to 2013; she ran for the same position in 2025 but lost. Her si ...

) are in show business as well. In 2019, Dani Barretto wed Xavi Panlilio with child Millie, born in 2019.

Health and death

On September 6, 2019, Legaspi was rushed to the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center after having chest pains. He later died from cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at around 10:00 AM on September 8, 2019, two days before his 78th birthday. He was buried at Caryana Monastery in

Magalang Magalang, officially the Municipality of Magalang (; ), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 124,188 people. History Magalang was mentioned as a ''visita'' of the nea ...

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

Selected filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legaspi, Lito 1941 births 2019 deaths Male actors from Bacolod Actors from San Juan, Metro Manila Filipino male television actors Male actors from Metro Manila Filipino male film actors