AMALIA FUENTES: I NEVER REALLY LIKE THE 'TITLE'
MANILA, MARCH 30, 2011 (STAR) FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo [PHOTO - Two screen goddesses at their prime: Elizabeth Taylor (above) and (right) Amalia Fuentes on the cover of Expressweek magazine (dated March 1976)]
FUNFARE UPDATE By Ricardo F. Lo - The "title" has stuck and whether she likes it or not, Amalia Fuentes will have to live with it Elizabeth Taylor of the Philippines.
"The truth," Amalia told Funfare Update, "is that I never really like it. God in His wisdom never creates two persons exactly the same. Even in the case of identical twins, one is always slightly different from the other. I was starting in showbiz when that 'title' was given to me, but I wanted to have my own identity, to be known on my own merits and not because I'm being likened to somebody."
That "title" was informally "conferred"on Amalia more than half a century ago when she was discovered by Dr. Jose R. Perez, the famous Starmaker Doc Perez of Sampaguita Pictures which named her Miss Number One (with Juancho Gutierrez as Mr. Number One) in a star search, introduced her in the Gloria Romero starrer Hindi Basta-Basta and cast her in her first-starring role in Movie Fan.
Described as "The Last Star" by a veteran writer, Elizabeth died at age 79 Wednesday morning (US Time, March 23) at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where she was confined for seven weeks due to CHF (Congestive Heart Failure).
"Elizabeth Taylor was the last screen goddess," said Floy Quintos. "Her private life was just as exciting as her movies."
Amalia recalled that when Sampaguita launched her, Doc Perez saw that she was a cross between Elizabeth Taylor and Linda Darnell and since Elizabeth was the bigger star, it was logical to just market the new discovery as the Elizabeth Taylor of the Philippines. At that time, Philippine Movies was so heavily influenced by Hollywood that Filipino actors and actresses were publicized as Hollywood's local counterparts. Thus, besides Amalia Fuentes being Elizabeth Taylor of the Philippines, we have Barbara Perez as Audrey Hepburn of the Philippines, Berting Labra as Mickey Rooney of the Philippines, Tessie Agana as the Shirley Temple of the Philippines, Merle Tuazon as Ava Gardner of the Philippines, Chona Sandoval as Pier Angeli of the Philippines, Lou Salvador Jr. as James Dean of the Philippines and Eddie Mesa as Elvis Presley of the Philippines.
Amalia's "title" was affirmed when Vic Damone performed at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in the late '50s. Then barely 18, Amalia watched the show with her then perennial screen sweetheart (and later husband) Romeo "Bobby" Vasquez, father of her only daughter, Liezl (now Mrs. Albert Martinez). In one portion of the show, Damone invited a lady from the audience to join him onstage and sing to her. Amalia was "it."
"I wasn't even made up," recalled Amalia. "I was in a hurry, so after taking a bath, I hurriedly fixed my hair, dressed up and went with Bobby to Rizal Memorial. I deliberately didn't wear any make-up because I didn't want to attract undue attention."
Anyway, on stage, Damone took a good look at Amalia and said, "You look like Elizabeth Taylor!" The audience reacted with a deafening applause.
[PHOTO - Elizabeth in Butterfield 8 for which she won an Oscar Best Actress (1961) for her performance as a call girl. Left: Amalia looking like a sea nymph at the Tali beach in Batangas where she owned a vacation house. (Photos of Amalia were taken by Jun de Leon)
Two years later, Amalia went with the Karilagan models (Joji Felix Velarde and Chona Kasten among them) of Pitoy Moreno, Ben Farrales and Aureo Alonzo to Las Vegas for a fashion show. During a free time, the group decided to try the casino.
"I chose a slot machine near the door, dropping small coins just for fun," continued Amalia. "Then, I noticed that a man with several escorts was walking in my direction. I thought they were headed for the door. I was surprised when he walked straight toward me and said, 'Hi, I am Eddie Fisher!' Of course, I knew who he was!"
At that time, Fisher was mending a broken heart after he broke up with Elizabeth. Fisher was one of the eight men Elizabeth married, one of them Richard Burton whom she married twice. Burton first starred with Elizabeth in Cleopatra, the classic movie that made Elizabeth $1-M richer, making her the first million-dollar star.
"Lumabas ang pagka-fan ko," added Amalia. "I started asking Fisher, 'Is she beautiful? How does she look in person?' Excited ako."
Fisher simply looked at Amalia with a quiet smile. Then he said, "You look like her!" He invited her for cocktails but she politely begged off.
A few years later, Amalia and company (including her mother) went to Hollywood during a US vacation and met Stephen Boyd who was then shooting a movie (Fantastic Voyage, with Raquel Welch). At that time, there was some kind of an "exchange-visit" arrangement between Sampaguita and Hollywood. When Hollywood stars came (Troy Donahue and Jeff Chandler among them), they would be entertained by Sampaguita stars at the studio, and vice-versa.
As the story goes, Stephen was so fascinated with Amalia that he actually went on a date with her, at another time play golf with her, and even invited her to try her luck in Hollywood, prompting Amalia to comment, "I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond than be a small fish in a big pond." She was already a big star in the Philippines at that time.
It turned out that Stephen had quit Cleopatra after shooting for a few days and was replaced by Burton but got paid in full anyway, saying "I was laughing all the way to the bank." Said Amalia, "That was the first time I ever heard that remark" which has been quoted through the years.
It was during one of their meetings that Stephen told Amalia, "You remind me of Elizabeth Taylor." Clarified Amalia, "He didn't exactly say that I looked like Elizabeth Taylor. He just said that I reminded him of Elizabeth Taylor."
When did Amalia finally come face-to-face with Elizabeth Taylor?
It happened in the '80s when she and estranged husband Joey Stevens watched Elizabeth in the play The Little Foxes in London's West End. Amalia wore a white dress which she bought during an earlier trip to Italy and purposely wore a curly hairstyle reminiscent of one Elizabeth wore in one of her movies. She and Joey sat at the first row. After the intermission, they could heard whispers (you know, could she be Elizabeth Taylor?) as they returned to their seats, occupying the front row instead of their original front-row seats. More whispers: She couldn't be Elizabeth Taylor. She's in the play, so why would she sit with the audience?
After the show, Amalia rushed to the backstage door and waited for Elizabeth to come out, ready with her Playbill to be autographed by her. At 5'5" wearing three-inch heels, Amalia towered over Elizabeth who was only 5'1" tall. I should know.
Back in 1986, Raoul Tidalgo and I, together with our dear departed friends Rita Gomez and Rustom Quinton, stood three feet away from Elizabeth at one side of the red carpet when she arrived, escorted by George Hamilton, at the Avery Theater for The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Gala Tribute to Elizabeth, in which her colleagues Roddy McDowall, Ann Miller, Jane Powell, June Allyson and Margaret O'Brien were among those who paid tribute to her. We were invited by Domingo "Jun" Hornilla who was the Filipino comptroller of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the same guy responsible for the holding of the First Filipino Filmfest in Lincoln Center in the mid-'90s.
"I was literally looking at the back of her head," said Amalia, "so I thought of doing something to make her look at me. I said, 'You know, I'm also an actress and in my country, they said that I look like you!' That did it. Elizabeth raised her head and, with her violet eyes (that, I would learn later, turned blue-green when she was under the sun), she looked at me and smiled, saying, 'Hmmm,' signed my Playbill and sped away in her chauffeur-driven car."
Amalia learned about Elizabeth's death only late yesterday morning when she woke up. She went straight to bed the night before, tired after attending a prayer meeting in which Pilar Pilapil was the resource speaker.
When she checked her celfone for text messages, it was Elwood Perez's message that she read first: Elizabeth Taylor is dead at 79.
Thinking that it was as joke, Amalia texted Elwood back, "Don't worry, I'm still alive and kicking."
As a parting shot, I told Amalia that Elizabeth was once quoted as saying that she had two great loves, Mike Todd (her second husband who died in a plane crash only months after they got married) and Richard Burton.
I asked Amalia who her greatest love is.
"I won't tell you who he is."
Is he an actor?
"No," she said. "He's not from showbiz. That's your blind item for tomorrow," adding, "the only tragedy is that I never got to marry him."
I have my guess. Who is yours?
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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