Gerardo de Leon

Biography

Gerardo de León (September 12, 1913 - July 25, 1981) was a Filipino actor turned film director, who made his acting debut in the 1934 movie Ang Dangal. De León, who was born as Gerardo Ilagan, was a member of the Ilagan clan of Philippine motion pictures, which includes Robert Arevalo, Liberty Ilagan and Ronaldo Valdez, and musical scorer Tito Arévalo. De León was a medical doctor by profession, but his ultimate love for film has won him over. He made eight more films as an actor before he became a director. He made his directorial debut in 1939's Bahay-Kubo, starring Fely Vallejo (who he later married). One of his unfinished projects was in the late Fernando Poe, Jr.'s Juan de la Cruz in 1972. Nicknamed "Manong", de León holds the sole distinction of being the most awarded film director in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences' FAMAS Awards, the Philippines' Oscars. From 1952 to 1971, he was awarded seven FAMAS Awards, three of them he received three years in a row. All of the films in which he won for Best Director also won for Best Picture at the FAMAS: Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo (1952), Hanggang sa Dulo ng Daigdig (1958), Huwag Mo Akong Limutin (1960), …

Directed

1. Women in Cages (1971) — Director
2. Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) — Director
3. Terror Is a Man (1959) — Director
4. Brides of Blood (1968) — Director
5. The Blood Drinkers (1964) — Director
6. Curse of the Vampires (1966) — Director
7. Cavalry Command (1958) — Director
8. The Walls of Hell (1964) — Director
9. Noli Me Tángere (1961) — Director
10. Sanda Wong (1955) — Director
11. Banaue: Stairway to the Sky (1975) — Director
12. Lilet (1971) — Director
13. Fe, Esperanza, Caridad (1974) — Director
14. 48 Hours (1950) — Director
15. Ang Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo (1952) — Director
16. Pedro Penduko (1954) — Director
17. Hanggang sa Dulo ng Daigdig (1958) — Director
18. Bahay Kubo (1939) — Director
19. Tatlong Maria (1944) — Director
20. The Moises Padilla Story (1961) — Director
21. Sisa (1951) — Director
22. El Filibusterismo (1962) — Director
23. Ifugao (1954) — Director
24. Huwag Mo Akong Limutin (1960) — Director
25. Diego Silang (1951) — Director
26. Dyesebel (1953) — Director
27. Ang Daigdig ng mga Api (1965) — Director
28. Ang Bagong Maestra (1953) — Director
29. Saigon (1956) — Director
30. Ikaw Ay Akin (1947) — Director
31. Ama at Anak (1939) — Director
32. Ang Maestra (1941) — Director
33. Wanted: Johnny L (1966) — Director
34. Bicol Express (1957) — Director
35. Kamay ni Satanas (1950) — Director
36. Aawitan Kita (1959) — Director
37. Brownout (1969) — Director
38. Anak ni Dyesebel (1964) — Director
39. Padre Burgos (1949) — Director
40. The Dawn of Freedom (1944) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Ang Pagbabalik (1937)
2. Ruisenor (1939)
3. Ama at Anak (1939)