Nora Aunor is the most famous Filipino actress who won several awards and is considered to be a legendary showbiz personality of all times. Born from a poor family in Camarines Sur on May 21, 1953, Nora Aunor is Maria Leonora Teresa Villamayor in real life. She lived her childhood life in hardship where as young as 5 years old she is already selling water at a railroad station. She came from a poor family that is living in a nipa house and she has to attend school without any slippers to wear. In an effort to help her family earn the money that they need, Nora who loves to sing and dance volunteered to join the Darigold Jamboree in Naga where she won. This was then followed by her other stints in joining different singing contests like The Liberty Big Show where she again won. These winnings were her stairway to success. She aimed for a higher victory and joined the national amateur singing contest on the television. She was not disappointed because she became the undefeated champion for 14 weeks. She aimed for a higher victory and joined the national amateur singing contest on the television. She was not disappointed because she became the undefeated champion for 14 weeks.
This is when her professional singing career began. She became a recording star with her record breaking albums Nora Aunor Sings: Mga Awiting Pilipino, Awitin ng Puso, Mga Awiting Pamasako and Ang Tindera. Dr. Jose Perez, the company’s top manager offered her an 8 picture contract in 1967. She was paired with her love interest Tirso Cruz III in the movie industry and the Guy and Pip love team soon became very popular for several years. Her film debut was All over the world in 1967 and she started guesting on shows of the Vera-Perez Pictures and United Brothers Production. From singing, she ventured into heavy drama acting which made her won several acting awards both at the local and the national award giving bodies. She was the first Filipino actress to become the juror in the International Film festival in 1996 at Hawaii; the only Filipino actor to receive a nomination from a top tier international Film Festival in Berlin for her movie Himala; the only actress to be a part of the Centenial Honor for the Arts; the only Filipino actress to win the Top Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Sevice in 1983; the only actress to win three best actress award in the Film Academy of the Philippines successively; the only Filipino actress to be featured by HBO in a documentary film pertaining to the achievements of the world’s greatest actress in 1997; the youngest recipient for the Helen Vela Lifetime Achievement Award given in 2005; the only Filipino actress to win 7 best actress award from the Metro Manila Film Festival and the most nominated actress in the Philippines in a leading role which paved the way for her to be crowned at the Hall of Fame. To add more to her accomplishments, Nora was also recognized as one of the 10 Asian Best Actresses of the Decade which was awarded by the Green Planet Movie Awards in 2010. She also earned the Ani ng Dangal Award in 2013 from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as well as the Light of Culture Awards from the Philippine Center of the International Theater Institute with the ITI Earthsavers UNESCO Dream Center for her contribution in the integration of film, theater and television. Nora was married to a Filipino actor Christopher De Leon in 1975 to whom she has a son Ian De Leon who was also an actor. They also have adopted children Lotlot De Leon and Matet De Leon, both Filipino actresses and Kiko and Kenneth De Leon. In 1996 however the couple separated. In 2008, Nora became a permanent resident of the United States.
Nora Aunor was able to make 360 singles with more than 50 albums and more than 200 songs. She bagged 30 gold singles and she further became a singing sensation on television with her own musical show, the Nora Aunor Show which became the Superstar Show, one of the longest musical variety show on TV. She performed three plays namely Minsa’y Isang Gamu Gamo (1991), Domestic Helper (1992) and Trojan Women (1994). She also became a radio sensation when she also makes some guesting in German Moreno’s afternoon radio program, The Germiside Show, the Operetang Putol Putol of Johnny de Leon, and the Fiesta Extravaganza.
