Mario Montenegro (born Roger Collin Macalalag; July 25, 1928 – August 27, 1988) was a Filipino film

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

best known for his heroic leading roles.

Early life

Montenegro was born in

Pagsanjan Pagsanjan (pronounced ''PAG-sang-han''), officially the Municipality of Pagsanjan (), is a municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,327 people. Pagsanjan is the tourist capi ...

, LagunaCCP Encyclopedia, p. 279 Montenegro was a Fine Arts student at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

upon the invasion of the Philippines by Japan during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the age of fourteen, he joined the armed resistance against the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

as a member of the Hunters ROTC guerilla unit. He was only sixteen when he, along with the Hunters ROTC, participated in the famed raid on the Japanese internment camp at

Los Baños, Laguna Los Baños (IPA: Help:IPA/Tagalog, ɔs bɐˈɲɔs, officially the Municipality of Los Baños (), colloquially 'elbi' or simply LB, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Laguna (province ...

on February 23, 1945. He received multiple medals for distinction before he rejoined civilian life in 1946.

Film career

In 1949, Montenegro was cast in his first film role in the World War II drama ''Capas''. The following year, he was cast by director

Manuel Conde Manuel Conde (born Manuel Pabustan Urbano; October 9, 1915 – August 11, 1985) was a Filipino actor, director and producer. As an actor, he also used the screen name Juan Urbano during the 1930s aside from his more popular screen name. He was t ...

in his first leading role, in ''Apat na Alas'' (1950). During the 1950s, Montenegro was among the mainstays of

LVN Pictures LVN Pictures, Inc. was a Filipino film studio that was considered one of the biggest in the history of Philippine cinema and its foremost establishment in motion picture post-production until 2005. In its heyday of motion picture production, LV ...

studio headed by Doña Sisang de León. He was often cast in

costume drama Costume is the distinctive style of clothing, dress and/or cosmetics, makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used ...

s and action films, dabbling occasionally in comedy roles. He portrayed heroic leads in such historical films as ''Dagohoy'' (1953), ''Lapulapu'' (1955), ''Kilabot ng Makiling'' (1959) and ''Alyas Sakay'' (1959). Throughout his career, Montenegro would be nominated for a total of three FAMAS acting awards, including two Best Actor nominations. As he aged, Montenegro found himself cast in character roles. Among his more notable later roles was in Mike de Leon's ''

Itim ''Itim'' ( Filipino: ''Black''), released overseas as ''The Rites of May'', is a 1976 Philippine supernatural horror film directed by Mike de Leon in his feature film directorial debut, from a screenplay written by Clodualdo del Mundo Jr. a ...

'' (1976), for which he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the

Gawad Urian 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 ...

. His last movie was ''Madonna: Ang Babaeng Ahas'', filmed in 1988, but it was released posthumously in 1991.

Death

Montenegro died of a heart attack on August 20, 1988, in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, Philippines.

Legacy

His surviving granddaughter

Valeen Montenegro Valeen Montenegro Vicente-Manuel (born June 10, 1990) is a Filipino actress, comedian and model. Career Montenegro started her acting career as one of the new talents launched by ABS-CBN Corporation, ABS-CBN's talent management arm Star Magic ...

is also an actress following the footsteps of his legacy.

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montenegro, Mario 1928 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Filipino male actors Filipino male film actors Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino people of French descent Male actors from Laguna (province) Filipino paramilitary personnel