S mag poll: ‘Top 15 Best Actors of all time’

FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
Friday, June 29, 2007

A few months back, Funfare enumerated the country’s 15 greatest actresses, as polled by S magazine. Nora Aunor topped the list, followed by, among others, Vilma Santos, Gloria Romero, Charito Solis, Nida Blanca, Gina Alajar and Lorna Tolentino.

The June issue of S came up with the Top 15 Best Actors of all time, as chosen by 100 respondents in and out of showbiz. They included Dennis Marasigan of CCP, talent manager Bibsy Carballo, entertainment journalist Bayani San Diego, indie filmmaker Rica Arevalo, beauty expert/magnate Fanny Serrano, actress Cherry Pie Picache, writer Senedy Que, directors Maryo J. de los Reyes, Jeffrey Jeturian, Adolf Alix, among others.

Eddie Garcia topped the list of the all-time greats with 65 of the 100 respondents voting for him. “The last man of the great frontier,” S writer Archie de Calma described the durable and versatile actor.

Eddie was followed closely by Christopher de Leon with 64 votes, “golden boy of the new renaissance,” the description again coming from Archie, who wrote the accompanying pieces on all 15 actors.

The 13 other actors, with votes garnered and descriptions by Archie:

• Vic Silayan (50) — Portrait of an artist as a Filipino actor

• Jay Ilagan (46) — Jaywalking to excellence

• Dindo Fernando (43) — Stars ’66 standout

• Aga Muhlach (41) — The bagets we’ll never forget

• Phillip Salvador (39) — Galatea to Brocka’s Pygmalion

• Cesar Montano (37) — The wild aesthetics of a streetsmart

• Johnny Delgado (33) — Johnny be cruel, Johnny be good

• Piolo Pascual (32) — The ultimate screen hero

• Bembol Roco (31) — The bold, the bald and the beautiful

• Dolphy (29) — His comic majesty

• Richard Gomez (26) — The quintessential Adonis

• Michael de Mesa (24) — Always in character

• Mark Gil (20) — The sensible sex symbol

So there you have the Top 15 Best Actors of all time, according to the S survey.

“Of all time” is not an accurate description as the list obviously didn’t include pre-war and post-war actors. The likes of Leopoldo Salcedo, Rogelio de la Rosa, Jose Padilla Jr., Fernando Poe Sr., Tony Santos Sr., Leroy Salvador, Efren Reyes Sr., and Pancho Magalona. Those are all-time greats. But then in all probability most, if not all, of the 100 respondents didn’t watch their films.

Also missing are such distinguished names as Fernando Poe Jr. (the only actor to be named National Artist), Joseph Estrada, Eddie Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez. And younger actors like Ricky Davao, Joel Torre and Albert Martinez.

S editor-in-chief Joseph Peter Gonzales makes it clear that the choices of the respondents (or jurors) do not reflect those of the staff. To which Archie agrees. In fact, Joseph and Archie say that had they been jurors, they would have excluded from their all-time greats lists some of the 15 winners.

Funfare encourages readers to send their own choices.

(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)

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