Gloria Romeo was born on December 16, 1933 at Denver, Colorado to a Filipino father and an American mother by the name of Mary Borrego. In 1937, the family went back to the Philippines, specifically in Pangasinan, where there are no movie houses available. Gloria needs to visit the next town to watch Filipino movies, and this only heightened her desire to be a movie star someday.
She is Gloria Galla in real life, a Filipino veteran and popular actress in the Philippine entertainment movie and TV industry. She attended her school in Mabini, Pangasinan, Philippines. Gloria has one brother, who also worked as a Filipino actor, namely Tito Galla. Eventually, Gloria met an actor while doing a film, named Juancho Gutierrez of whom she fell in love with, married and had one daughter, whom they named Maritess.
Her acting career started through his uncle Nario Rosales, who introduced her in Sampaguita Pictures.
She was given bit roles, and starred in “Madame X (1952) opposite Cesar Ramirez and Alicia Vergel. The producers gave her screen name Gloria Romero. In the movie entitled “Monghita (1952),” Gloria got her first lead role with Oscar Moreno as his co-star. In 1954, she was given recognition by the Filipino Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) as Best Actress for portraying a role in “Dalagang Ilocana.” This was her first major award. Sixty years in the movie industry are something that an actor has to beat. Gloria, celebrating her 5 decades in the history of the Philippine movie industry, had also won awards as Famas Best Supporting Actress in 1989, in the film “Nagbabagang Luha,” and a FAMAS Best Actress in 2001, for her movie “Tanging Yaman.” She was the ever first recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board or the (MTRCB.) In the 8th Golden Screen Awards held in April 2, 2011, she was distinguished as one of the 13 “Movie Icons Of Our Time,” a plaque presented to her by Regal Entertainment matriarch Lily Monteverde.
Gloria Romero may not be the superstar as she was in the 1950’s but she became a symbol, and inspiration especially for the younger generations who had not only admired her for the longevity in the industry, but because she is worthy of her accomplishments, fit to be called the Queen in the Philippine movie Industry.
She should not have survived this long in her career if it not for the unforgettable characters that she had portrayed in numerous movies to her name. Even in the ugly and unglamorous roles, she excels, and never mind if the viewer watches in disbelief of the beauty she projects on the screen even in the most horrible roles. The pretty and fresh face had always left us in awe. It is the magic that she shares, when a viewer watches her movies.
At the 27th Annual Gawad Urian, she was presented a Natatanging Gawad Urian award for the lifetime achievement. The award symbolizes the most versatile and exemplary contributions that she had shared with the industry as an actress, and as a person, for the many attributes she possesses, for being a woman of grace, beauty, style, bearing, character and for aging gracefully.
Gloria’s greatest testimony is her dedication to her husband, actor Juancho Gutierrez, in which after being estranged for a long period of time, she had taken him back, and took care of him even after he suffered a stroke and became paralyzed. In 2006, he died of multiple organ failure.
