LVN star Lourdes Medel: Forever a movie fan

The last time I saw Lourdes Medel was in the late ’60s when, as neophyte movie writer, I interviewed her for Weekly Nation after she won as Best Supporting Actress for LEA Productions’ Salamisim, directed by the late Mitos Villareal, at the Third Manila Filmfest. In that movie version of the popular TV drama anthology, Lourdes reprised her role as an invalid who lived with the infidelity of her husband. Her co-stars were Marlene Dauden and Eddie Garcia.

Lourdes (called Lulu by family and friends), one of the LVN stars, did a few more movies after that and quit showbiz for a quiet life in Brisbane, Australia, with husband Jaime Llora (half-brother of the late Larry Santiago Productions starlet Marichu Llora).

Fast-forward 35 years later.

Last week, I saw Lulu again at Annabel’s Restaurant (Tomas Morato, Quezon City) where she had a reunion with fellow LVNers Mila Ocampo and Luz Valdez (who arranged the get-together), along with husband Jaime, Lulu’s sister Josie Medel-Villarama (a former Miss Davao) and Ethel Ramos. The Lloras are here for an indefinite vacation.

Over lunch (Lulu brought her own sandwich and didn’t get anything from the buffet table; she’s suffering from coeliac disease or gluten intolerance, so she has a special diet), the group had a fun time reminiscing.

"You know," Lulu started, "I was only 15 and a high school student at UST when I was discovered by (director) Temyong Marquez."

She was born and raised in Trinidad Island (now General Santos City), the eldest of the 10 children of Manuel Medel, a copra dealer Lulu fondly described as "a typical Spanish tyrant," and Maria Fernandez.

"I was a movie fan," Lulu continued. "My idol was Nida Blanca. I watched all her movies and those of other stars. I watched Lilia Dizon in Bathaluman several times and I imitated her at home. I would wrap myself with a bedsheet and stood on top of the table, with my brothers and sisters as my audience, and pretended I was Bathaluman (a mannequin)."

After finishing elementary school in Trinidad Island, Lulu asked her dad’s permission to study high school in Manila.

"My father didn’t know that I had an ulterior motive," recalled Lulu with a laugh. "I wanted to be discovered for the movies. It was my secret mission. My father was strict. Gusto niya lahat ng anak niya nasa poder niya."

As fate would have it, Lulu and her friends found themselves one day seated on the fence beside the house next to that of her aunt where she was boarding, watching Temyong Marquez shoot a movie for Premiere Productions.

"Temyong saw me and said, ‘Hoy, ‘yung batang maganda na mahaba ang buhok, halika.’ He asked if I wanted to be an actress. I said yes. He told me to go to LVN and look for Doña Sisang (de Leon, LVN matriarch). It was Fans Day when my friends and I went to LVN. Aling Bading, Doña Sisang’s daughter, saw me and brought me to her mom."

Lulu was lagging a ukelele at the time, she being an Elvis Presley and James Dean fan.

"Doña Sisang asked me to sing. I sang Blueberry Hill."

She was introduced in Wala Kang Paki, starring Nida and Nestor de Villa, in 1958 and was promoted to stardom the next year in Linda Mora where she played the title role as a Muslim princess. Then, she was paired with Bernard Bonnin, then LVN’s top action star, in several movies including the popular Palos series. They fell in love. Lulu had a child out of wedlock.

Recalled Mila Ocampo (who co-starred with Lulu in Casa Grande, Ang Mga Lawin and Palos Kontra Gagamba, etc.), "We had to hide Lulu. Unlike today when actresses announce on national television that they are pregnant out of wedlock, at that time itinatago ang mga bagay na ‘yan."

The love child, Gabby, is now 41 (born on Sept. 8, 1964) and separated from his Australian wife. They have one child. According to Lulu, Gabby’s fondest wish is to see his father and his half-siblings Richard Bonnin and Charlene Gonzalez (Bernard’s children with former actress/beauty queen Elvie Gonzalez).

When her contract with LVN expired, Lulu went freelancing. She was in Gerry de Leon’s El Filibusterismo and the leading lady of Jess Lapid in Kardong Kaliwa.

On Dec. 24, 1967, she met Jaime Llora inside a Cursillo house in San Jose, Batangas.

"Hulog ng langit," said Lulu of Jaime whose family then owned Asian Handicrafts (his father was Capt. Manuel Llora and his mother, Conchita Barretto). "There was no courtship. Soon, we got married."

The civil wedding was done in February 1968. They got married in church soon after at the Immaculate Conception Church in Quezon City. They have a child, Jaime Jr., now 37. (Lulu said she suffered one miscarriage.)

"Jaime allowed me to make a comeback," said Lulu.

After Salamisim, Lulu did a few more movies (her last was Alex Big Shot with Joseph Estrada) and then the family migrated to Australia in 1973.

"All of Jaime’s family were there, so we had to follow."

As an ordinary citizen, Lulu first worked at Myer, one of the biggest department stores in Australia. Jaime took a nine-to-five job.

"At first, life in Brisbane was hard, especially since I was used to life as a señorita in the Philippines. Besides, I had two small children to take care of. Halos bukid pa noon ang Brisbane, so it was lonely."

Now both retired, Lulu and Jaime are planning to relocate to the Philippines. They’re looking for a house.

Asked if she ever missed showbiz, Lulu broke into a wide smile.

"Of course, I do!"

As they say, once a movie fan...

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