Treasure trove of tantalizing trivia from Eddie Garcia’s 67-year career

GARCIA. The seasoned actor-director turns 87 in May.

IF LONGEVITY is the only gauge of success in local show business, you won’t find anybody more successful than Eddie Garcia—who’s turning 87 years old on May 2.

Since 1949, when he acted in his first screen starrer—as one of the titular leads in Manuel Conde’s “Siete Infantes de Lara”—Garcia has either directed or acted in more than 650 TV-film productions!

He is the only film practitioner inducted into the Famas Hall of Fame in three categories, as actor, supporting actor and director!

But, Tito Eddie isn’t one to rest on his laurels: “An actor should make the most out of every role assigned to him, because it’s the best recommendation for his next assignment. You have to do it well no matter how small the role is,” he told us.

We were thrilled to catch up with Tito Eddie when we recently visited the set of his latest teleserye, “Little Nanay,” because we acted with him in the first edition of Cinemalaya in 2005, in Rica Arevalo’s “ICU Bed #7,” where he won the first of his two best actor awards from the acclaimed indie fest (the second was for his crackerjack portrayal in Jun Lana’s “Bwakaw” seven years later).

He is known for his naughty Manoy alter ego as much as the polished melodramas and romantic films he directed for Nora Aunor (“Atsay”), Vilma Santos (“Sinasamba Kita,” “Paano Ba Ang Mangarap?”) and Sharon Cuneta (“P.S. I Love You,” “Kailan Sasabihing Mahal Kita”).

Aside from “Saan Nagtatago Ang Pag-ibig?,” “Imortal” and “Magdusa Ka,” he also won best director for 1969’s “Pinagbuklod ng Langit”—the Ferdinand Marcos bio, where Vilma Santos portrayed the young Imee Marcos!

Marcos family bio

To verify this, we texted the Star for All Seasons about her participation in that movie—and Ate Vi immediately responded, with more tantalizing trivia: “Yes, I was in it. In fact, I did two movies (the other one was ‘Iginuhit ng Tadhana,’ shot when she was 12) about the Marcos family—and I played Imee both times!”

Garcia may have won many accolades, but he doesn’t let them go to his head. When we spoke to “Little Nanay’s” executive producer, Darling Pulido, she told us how easy it was to work with the veteran actor-director, whose professionalism she said should be emulated by his younger costars: “If his call time is 9 a.m., you’ll see him on the set at 7 a.m.!”

Don’t his young directors get intimidated by him? Garcia replied, “When I’m an actor, I just act—I don’t make any judgment in the direction, unless the director seeks my advice. I enjoy doing indies, because the filmmakers behind them always come up with fresh ideas. I don’t meddle—it’s their ball game.”

Is there any role he would refuse to do? He answered, “I don’t mind playing any character—although I remember saying no to a role once. In 1990, I played Gen. Tomas Karingal in Francis ‘Jun’ Posadas’ ‘Ako Ang Batas,’ but the film’s producer also wanted me to play the character when he was only 20! I was 61 then, so how could I possibly be credible as a 20-year-old?”

Let’s go back to how it all started for him as an actor. How did he get into acting? He recalled, “I was only 20 years old when I began my acting career. I just got out as a reservist of the Philippine Scouts. I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for three years—from 1946 to 1949. When the Scouts were disbanded, I was supposed to reenlist with the US Army.

“Then, I met George Sanderson, who told me about the ads in the papers saying that Conde was looking for seven actors to play his leads in ‘Siete Infantes.’ I screen-tested, along with 40 hopefuls—and I made the cut. The rest in history.”

Motorcycle accident

Did he encourage his kids to pursue acting? He shared, “My eldest, Eddie Garcia Jr., tried before he died in a motorcycle accident in the ’70s. He was able to do two movies—one was with Vilma Santos, while the other was with Nora Aunor (in the Superstar’s superhero flick, ‘Super Gee’).”

How different is the industry then and now? The actor quipped, “There’s a new generation of technically skilled film practitioners. Waiting is part of the job, but in those days, people were punctual.”

Given his extensive 67-year experience in the industry, shouldn’t he write a book about Philippine show biz and his much-admired career? With a twinkle in his eyes, he quipped: “Yes. It will be perfect for Holy Week reading (laughs)!”