Angelu de Leon is Maria Luisa Angela Martinez de Leon-Rivera in real life and was born on August 22, 1979. She is a Filipina film and television actress and started her acting career at the young age of 12. The youngest daughter of Luis and Flora de Leon, she studied in various exclusive schools in St. Joseph’s College, Holy Spirit and Siena College. When she was just 10 years old, she made her first commercial without her father’s consent. On his deathbed due to colon cancer, his father gave his final blessing and approval to pursue her acting career.
“Ang TV” was Angelu’s first television gag show which was aired over ABS-CBN. Johnny Manahan was her mentor, and her contemporaries were Claudine Barreto, Rica Peralejo and Jolina Magdangal. After doing the show for almost a year, she agreed to sign a contract with Viva Films and later transferred to GMA network to star in a sitcom entitled ‘Ober Da Bakod,” with Anjo Yllana and Janno Gibbs.
There were also several movies where she portrayed different roles such as “Di Na Natuto,” with Sharon Cuneta as her elder sister, “kadenang Bulaklak,” with the likes of Ana Roces, Vina Morales and Donna Cruz, “Forever,” with Mikee Cojuangco, “Pre, Hanggang Sa Huli,” with Robin Padilla and “Okey si Maam,” with Alice Dickson. She has almost worked with big movie stars in Philippine showbiz.
The teen-oriented shows “T.G.I.S.” (Thank God it’s Sabado) was her biggest break in TV. It was followed by “Growing Up,” which starred Onemig Bondoc, Ciarra Sotto, Raven Villanueva, Michael Flores, Rica Peralejo and Red Sternberg. These shows created a team up with Bobby Andrews, and their love team became sensational in their time. 1990’s was Angelu’s peak moments. The partnership gave opportunities for more movies such as “Silaw: Takot Ka Ba Sa Dilim,” ‘TGIS: The Movie,” “Laging Naroon ka,” and “Wala Na Bang Pag-ibig,” and a new television series entitled “Ikaw Na Sana,” was conceptualized into a film.
At the peak of her career, Angelu was impregnated by action star Joko Diaz. This resulted to an unexpected maternity leave. The various projects intended for her had either been shelved or passed on to younger and new stars. Despite of the incident, she was able to come back and was given more mature roles in Viva Films. In the year 2001, she got pregnant again, this time by Jojo Manlongat, a businessman.
Because she still has the talent of a seasoned actress, she was still given the opportunity to continue her showbiz career. Due to her status as celebrity mother, she was assigned a mother role in a TV series ‘Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga.” In 2006, she worked with ABS-CBN and played supporting roles in “Super Inggo,” and its sequel, “Super Inggo: Ang Bagong Bangis.”
In 2008, Angelu signed an exclusive contract with GMA and made an afternoon soap opera “Ang Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang” with Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera. This is where her acting talent was once again recognized and gave her good reviews. She was back to her feet. Recently, she revived her character in the blockbuster TV show “T.G.I.S.” as Peachy on the TV show, “TeenGen.”
