Eddie Garcia

Eduardo "Eddie" Verchez Garcia (May 2, 1929 – June 20, 2019), colloquially known as Manoy, was a Filipino actor, television personality, film director and producer. Widely regarded as the "greatest Filipino actor of all-time", Garcia appeared in nearly 700 film and television roles. Garcia had the highest number of appearances in Philippine films.

Garcia is the only individual to have been inducted in three categories in the FAMAS Hall of Fame: for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director. He is also the only Filipino to have received the Asian Film Award for Best Actor. Garcia's best-regarded appearances include Beast of the Yellow Night (1971), The Woman Hunt (1972), Deathrow (2000), The Debut (2001), Abakada... Ina (2001), Bwakaw (2012), and Rainbow's Sunset (2018), the latter of which is his last film appearance. Later in his career, Garcia starred in television programs including Little Nanay (2015–2016) and FPJ's Ang Probinsyano (2016–2019).

Early life and education
Eddie Garcia was born as Eduardo Verchez Garcia on May 2, 1929, in Juban, Sorsogon to Antonio Garcia and Vicenta Verchez. He grew up on a farm in Naga, Camarines Sur, with his four siblings Mila, Efren, Menchu, and Santiago, and was raised by his grandparents. Garcia's family was descendants of Spanish settlers. Garcia's grandfather, who was a captain in the Spanish army, arrived in the Philippines in 1870; he married a woman from Pampanga and decided to settle in Naga.

Eddie Garcia was educated at Sorsogon Pilot Elementary School and transferred to Manila, where he finished high school at San Beda College and took A.B. Psychology at college in the same campus for three years.

Career
Immediately after the end of World War II, Garcia served with the Philippine Scouts and was stationed as a military policeman in Okinawa, Japan. After returning to the Philippines, his commanding officer asked Garcia to enlist for another duty overseas but Garcia met a friend, who persuaded him to enter show business.

Career beginnings
Garcia's first audition was for director Manuel Conde; he was accepted for his first role in the feature film Siete Infantes de Lara in 1949. After his first role, Garcia appeared in the film Kahit ang Mundo'y Magunaw the same year, and during his first two years in the industry, he appeared in Huling Patak ng Dugo and Kilabot ng Langit, both in 1950.

At first, due to his Hispanic features and bearing, Garcia was typecast in villain roles. In 1955, he appeared in Contravida, which was directed by Olive La Torre. Garcia was so effective as a villain he won his first FAMAS award for Best Supporting Actor, which he achieved for three consecutive years from 1957 to 1959 for the movies Taga sa Bato (1957), Condenado (1958), and Tanikalang Apoy (1959). Garcia is the only individual to win any award from FAMAS for three consecutive years.

In 1961, Garcia directed his first movie Karugtong ng Kahapon and also directed Historia un Amor in 1963. In 1969, he directed Pinagbuklod ng Langit, a biopic about President Ferdinand Marcos, for which Garcia won his first Best Director award from FAMAS.

Rise to prominence and critical acclaim
During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Garcia was a part of the film movement during the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema. He appeared in National Artist, and directed Lino Brocka's Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (1974), Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon (1976) and Miguelito: Ang Batang Rebelde (1985), among other films. In 1978, Garcia produced Atsay, starring Nora Aunor, for which he won Best Picture at the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Garcia directed Magdusa Ka in 1986, and won consecutive Luna Awards for Best Director for directing Saan Nagtatago and Pag-ibig in 1987. He also acted opposite Fernando Poe, Jr. in Kapag Puno na ang Salop (1987) and its sequel Ako ang Huhusga (1989), which Poe also directed. Garcia won the Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Best Director for the film Imortal in 1989. He became a FAMAS Hall of Famer as a director in 1991, and was named "All Time Favorite Actor of RP Movies" at the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation on March 21, 1992. Garcia starred in Boyong Mañalac: Hoodlum Terminator as the lead actor in 1991 and won the FAMAS Best Actor for the film a year after, winning multiple times and non-consecutively in the next few years for movies including Sambahin Ang Ngalan Mo (1998), Bakit May Kahapon Pa? (1996), and Mariano Mison... NBI (1997).

In 1998, Garcia won the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) Lifetime Achievement Award. He starred in Raymond Red's Anino (Shadow, 2000), which won the Palme d'Or in the short film category at Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Garcia played an aged convict who shields a young prisoner from harsh prison life in the movie Deathrow, for which he won the Best Actor award and the Gawad Urian Award for Best Actor in 2000.

In 2001, Garcia directed Abakada... Ina and won the Luna Award for Best Director. He was awarded Best Actor for the movie Mano Po in 2002. Garcia won the award for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the 2002 Star Awards for portraying Leandro Montemayor, the fictional Philippine President in the television drama series Kung Mawawala Ka from GMA 7. In 2005, Garcia played the lead role of an elderly man who is coming to terms with his mortality in Rica Arevalo's ICU Bed #7, which was entered into the first Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and Garcia won the award for Best Actor. Garcia also wonthe Natatanging Gawad Urian award in 2006.

Later years


In 2010, Eddie Garcia was interviewed for Mark Hartley's documentary film Machete Maidens Unleashed!, which explores exploitation films that were made in the Philippines in the 1970s and 1980s.

Garcia appeared in the independently produced film Bwakaw (2012), which was directed by Jun Robles Lana, a young Palanca award winner and director. Lana gave Garcia the script, and was worried a big star like him would decline the role, and the crew feared they could not afford him. Lana told Garcia of his concern but Garcia had already read the script. Garcia accepted the role and asked, "So when do we start shooting?". Garcia won his first international film award at the 55th Asia-Pacific Film Festival as the film's lead actor on December 15, 2012, winning the award for Asian Film Award for Best Actor, becoming the only Filipino so far to win the award.

Early in 2013, Garcia was awarded the first Dolphy Lifetime Achievement Award (Ulirang Alagad ng Sining) during the Entertainment Press Society's Golden Screen TV Awards. Also that year, Garcia was interviewed in the documentary The Search for Weng Weng. ''

In August 2014, Garcia was included in Inside Showbiz magazine's list of the five best living Filipino actors, and the Philippines' Yes! Magazine's list of 2014's 100 Most Beautiful Stars.

In 2015, Garcia appeared in the television series Little Nanay. He transferred to ABS-CBN and portrayed Don Emilio on the Philippines' longest-running action television show FPJ's Ang Probinsyano with Coco Martin from 2016 until 2019. Garcia returned to GMA Network and appeared in Rosang Agimat; while filming the show, an accident led to Garcia entering a coma and eventually his death.

Garcia continued to appear in films; when he reached the age of 89 in 2018, he said "retirement was never in my vocabulary". Garcia's last notable works were ML, an entry of 14th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in which he portrays Colonel dela Cruz, a retired METROCOM colonel suffering from Alzheimer's disease, leading him to believe that he is still living in the Marcos dictatorship. Garcia's performance in his movie won him the Gawad Urian's Best Actor award the following year. He also appeared in Hintayan ng Langit, an entry in the 2018 QCinema International Film Festival, starring opposite Gina Pareño as a man who is reunited with his ex-girlfriend in Purgatory. The movie was released on Netflix in the following year during the time Garcia was comatose. For his final film role, Garcia portrayed Ramon, a gay senator who comes out at an advanced age, in Rainbow's Sunset, an entry in the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival. Rainbow's Sunset was directed by Joel Lamangan. Garcia was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Dennis Trillo. Garcia had a special participation role in the comedy film Sanggano, Sanggago't Sanggwapo, which was released on September 4, 2019, three months after his death. Garcia did not finish filming his required scenes in the movie due to the accident; it was his last appearance in a movie.

Personal life
Garcia kept most of his life private, viewing his acting profession and personal life as separate. He lived a relatively simple life without any luxury cars and expensive equipment. Throughout his career, he was known for his professionalism, and evaded intrigues and controversies linking him to his fellow co-stars. Film producer Marichu Maceda described Garcia as "a disciplined and independent person, carrying things on his own without needing assistants or managers despite being popular".

Garcia was in a domestic partnership with Lilibeth Romero for 33 years. Before Romero, Garcia was married to Lucilla Scharnberg, who died of cancer in 1995. He and Scharnberg had three children: Eduardo "Eddieboy" Jr. (1951–1973), Erwin (March 13, 1956–March 13, 2021) due to liver disease and Elizabeth (nicknamed Lisa). Eduardo "Eddieboy" Jr. died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 22; Garcia called it "the biggest tragedy of his life", feeling guilty because he had gifted to his son the motorcycle his son had ridden. Elizabeth died of a heart attack in 1996. His other daughter lives in San Diego, California.

Garcia said he originally wanted to be either a soldier or a lawyer, saying "Acting is just a job. It's an honest way to make a living." Beyond acting, he was passionate about target shooting as a sport. He was a skilled marksman, having once been a trained soldier. Garcia campaigned for the Ako Bicol's party-list representation in the House of Representatives in the 2019 elections as the regional group's primary endorser.

Garcia maintained a healthy lifestyle through exercise, vitamin supplements, and healthy diet, saying he preferred fish and vegetables to meat. Garcia still worked as an actor and director when he turned 90, and he said he still had an active sex life and went to a gym to remain healthy. He described his lifestyle as "everything in moderation: food, work, even fitness, and workout".

Death
On June 8, 2019, Garcia was rushed to Mary Johnston Hospital in Tondo, Manila, after tripping on a cable wire and hitting his head on the pavement during a shoot for GMA Network's television series Rosang Agimat. He was unconscious and the following day he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Makati Medical Center. The actual incident was captured on video. Initial reports stated Garcia had suffered a heart attack on set, according to his family, but was later found to have suffered a cervical fracture due to the fall.

Garcia's family released a statement contradicting a report that said Garcia suffered a heart attack; they called the initial report "fake news" and said the actor tripped on a cable during filming, and was healthy prior to the incident. A CT scan showed his brain was in a normal state, ruling out the possibility he suffered a stroke. Due to the fracture, Garcia was in a coma. On June 15, his family agreed to place Garcia on do-not-resuscitate status. On June 19, there were minimal signs of brain activity and he remained dependent on a ventilator. The following day, Garcia was pronounced dead at 4:55 pm (GMT+8) at the age of 90. In accordance with his last wishes, immediately after his death, Garcia's remains were cremated and placed inside an olive-green urn. His wake was held at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig.

Aftermath
Garcia's accident and death became an issue because there was no standby medical team or ambulance on the set of Rosang Agimat. The unconscious Garcia was lifted from the pavement by non-medical personnel, who carried him to a passing taxicab. Several people, including his wife Lilibeth, said the accident could have been prevented if GMA Network's management had taken safety precautions. The Directors' Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI) referred to Garcia's death as "a sad and urgent reminder to the film and television industries that safety protocols at work and on set are of paramount importance". The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) started an investigation into the circumstances of Garcia's accident and death. The OSHC found some occupational safety and health (OSH)-related violations on the part of GMA Network based on an uploaded online video of Garcia's accident, such as lack of first-aid, medical supplies, and a stretcher. They also said Garcia was "carried by personnel using bare hands". On September 4, the DOLE added GMA Network failed to submit an incident report within 24 hours after the accident. On December 23, the DOLE fined GMA Network ₱890,000.00 because of the incident. The network submitted an appeal in response to the ruling.

Acting style and reputation
Garcia is best known for portraying villains. According to Garcia, as a critically acclaimed actor portraying characters that are usually loathed or feared, he had been attacked by a fan who hurt him with an umbrella because his character raped Gloria Romero's character in a Sampaguita Pictures production. Garcia did not lash out at the fan, believing "he did a good job in portraying it". Garcia is also known for his humorous lines, mostly in action or comedy films.

Garcia gained a reputation as one of the Philippine film industry's most-reliable, versatile and competent actors, and has influenced prominent actors like Coco Martin, with whom Garcia worked for three years in one of the longest-running television shows of Philippine television. Television presenter Julius Babao called Garcia "a true icon of the Philippine movie industry". Journalist Ruel Mendoza called Garcia the Ama ng Pelikulang Pilipino (lit. '"Father of Philippine Movies"').

Filmography
Garcia appeared in 670 films and television shows as an actor, and directed 37 films in his career. He had the highest number of appearances on films and television shows of a Filipino actor.

Awards and legacy
Garcia won multiple awards for films he directed. Miguel Escobar from Esquire called Garcia "a legendary actor-director". Korina Sanchez called Garcia "above and beyond the quota in his contributions to pop culture and the Philippine film industry".

Garcia said he did not make movies to gain awards. He is the only Filipino to receive the Asian Film Award for Best Actor, and won awards from other film festivals, receiving Luna Awards and the Metro Manila Film Festival Awards. Garcia was the most-awarded-and-nominated person in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards. He garnered 43 wins and 38 nominations: 13 for Best Supporting Actor, 12 for Best Actor, and 11 for Best Director. Out of these, he won six Best Supporting Actor awards, six Best Actor wins – the most by any actor, five Best Director awards, three Hall of Fame Awards, one Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award. Garcia was awarded his first FAMAS Award in 1957 and his last FAMAS, Best Actor, in 2019.

In June 2019, Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc. announced it intended to nominate Garcia for posthumous conferment of the Order of National Artists.

Garcia's stepson House representative Michael Romero said he would propose an "Eddie Garcia Law" to "safeguard the welfare and well being of all actors working in the television and/or in the movie industries" by compelling production outfits to grant mandatory insurance, providing for working hours in television and movie production, and establishing medical and safety protocols and emergency procedures. House Bill 1270—a consolidation of six similar bills, including one by Romero—passed the House of Representatives on February 7, 2023. The Senate of the Philippines approved on second reading Senate Bill No 2505, the proposed Eddie Garcia law, on February 12, 2024 and was calendared for third and final reading. On May 24, 2024, President Bongbong Marcos signed into law Republic Act 11996 or the "Eddie Garcia Law".