Filipino grabs an Oscar–literally

Like the Miss World beauty title, the Oscar trophy has yet to be won by a Filipino performer but, former dancer Franklin Bobadilla has done it! He is a Cultural Center Ballet Company alumnus.

Franklin hasn’t acted in Manila or Holland—so, how did he snag an Oscar? Well, after Franklin retired from dancing, he worked for some time with the Anne Frank Museum, which featured an exhibit on the different screen and stage incarnations of the play, “Diary of Anne Frank.” The exhibit included the Oscar statuette Shelley Winters got for portraying one of the characters in George Stevens’ film adaptation.

Speech

Every time Franklin would pass by the Oscar trophy, he imagined himself winning the award—he even had an outfit and acceptance speech prepared! He imagined fellow Filipinos giving him a standing ovation for “his” outstanding feat.

His big chance came when he was assigned to polish the tarnished trophy. So, he held it in his hands and gave his “acceptance” speech. (Of course, he finished the pro forma speech before his coworkers came back to the room!)

Too bad it wasn’t recorded for posterity, but Franklin has never forgotten his “Oscar moment”—even if the trophy wasn’t really his!