Julie Vega

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Julie Vega
Born	Julie Pearl Apostol Postigo May 21, 1968(1968-05-21) Quezon City, Philippines
Died	May 6, 1985 (aged 16) Quezon City, Philippines
Other name(s)	Darling Postigo
Occupation	Child actress, singer
Years active	1974 - 1985
Awards won Other Awards FAMAS Best Child Actress 1979 Mga Mata ni Angelita 1980 Durugin si Totoy Bato

Julie Pearl Apostol Postigo,^[1] better known as Julie Vega (May 21, 1968 – May 6, 1985), was a Filipina child actress and singer. She remains popular and well-loved in the Philippines, years after her sudden death at the age of 16 triggered a massive outpouring of nationwide grief that is still vividly remembered by Filipino showbiz fans.^[2] She won two FAMAS Awards for Best Child Actress during her brief showbiz career.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Showbiz career 1.3 Singing career 1.4 Education 1.5 Illness and early death 2 Life story 3 Filmography 3.1 Movies 3.2 Television 4 Discography 4.1 Album 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Vega, who was named after her own parents, was born at the Quezon Institute in Quezon City, Philippines^{[citation needed]} to a devout Roman Catholic family^[3] and is the youngest and only girl in a brood of six children of dentists Julio Postigo (1931 - 1991) from Zamboanga del Sur and the former Perla Apostol (nicknamed Pearl, born 1932)^[2] from Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. This fact led her family to nickname her Darling.^[1][2] Her older brothers are (according to order of birth) James (nicknamed Jimmy), Jeffrey (nicknamed Joey, 1960-1983), Jonathan, Joseph (nicknamed Toti), and Jerry (nicknamed Steve).^[4]

[edit] Showbiz career

Vega, who got her mestiza looks from her half-Portuguese father Julio,^{[citation needed]} was discovered at a Christmas party at the Quezon Institute (where her mother used to work then) by renowned film and stage director Lamberto Avellana and veteran actress Boots Anson-Roa, thus starting her showbiz career at the age of six as a television commercial model of a hotdog brand. She first used the screen name Darling Postigo and appeared in her first film entitled Ang Pag-ibig Ko’y Huwag Mong Sukatin as the young daughter of Anson-Roa and Dante Rivero.^[5] It was not until she appeared in her first major lead and breakthrough role in the 1978 film Mga Mata ni Angelita that she started using the screen name Julie Vega upon the recommendation of Dr. Larry Santiago. She had been chosen to play the title role of Angelita despite placing only third among over 200 applicants for the role.^[3]

Although Vega had to turn down the title role of Flor de Luna due to her hectic school and showbiz schedule,^[6] she would finally have her own soap opera when she was cast as the title character in GMA Network’s Anna Liza. Her portrayal of the sensitive, sad-sack and frequently oppressed title character drew the sympathy and affections of the Filipino viewing public and further solidified her star status. The success of Anna Liza made Vega the chief soap opera rival of Janice De Belen, a fellow child star who also enjoyed success with Flor de Luna, the title role Vega herself previously turned down, as the two dramas rivaled each other for the attention of the television-viewing public. Yet in spite being showbiz rivals, Julie and Janice were best friends in real life.^[7] In fact, De Belen herself once mentioned, “There could be no me if Julie accepted the role as Flor de Luna.”^[6]

Aside from her work in Anna Liza, Vega also starred in several films and won two FAMAS acting awards overall. She won Best Child Actress for Mga Mata ni Angelita and Durugin si Totoy Bato and was nominated for Best Child Actress for Mga Basang Sisiw and Best Supporting Actress for Isang Bala Ka Lang!.^[8]

When Vega became a teenager, she was signed to Regal Films by producer Lily Monteverde, who also owned the film company since its inception in 1962. She was then included among the so-called Regal “Cry Babies” along with then fellow teenaged actresses Maricel Soriano, Snooky, and Janice De Belen. She did a total of six films for Regal, including Where Love Has Gone , Mother Dear , To Mama with Love, and Daddy’s Little Darlings, all of which became certified box office hits.^[6]

[edit] Singing career

Aside from acting, Vega also became a successful singer in her own right. She initially refused to pursue a singing career of her own, but after repeated proddings from her older brother Joey, who noticed her beautiful singing voice, she finally consented to doing so. She took formal voice lessons under renowned songwriter Cecille Azarcon to further hone her singing voice. With the training she received, she was able to sing many of the theme songs of the movies she appeared in like Dear Mama, Where Love Has Gone, Don't Cry for Me Papa, and Iiyak Ka Rin.^[6]

It was during one of her singing promotions for Where Love Has Gone that Vega was discovered by Bong Carreon, who then offered her to be a recording artist for the then newly-formed Emerald Recording Company owned by Carreon himself and his then wife, the famous Filipina singer Imelda Papin. Her debut single Somewhere in My Past, composed by Mon Del Rosario, was a major hit which became a certified gold record in only its first few weeks of release and would prove to be her most enduring hit and the one song she would be most identified with. The single’s success prompted Carreon and Papin to launch Vega as a full-time solo artist by coming up with the latter’s 1985 debut album First Love, which included Somewhere in My Past and produced her further hit songs like Someone Special, The Memory Will Remain, and the title track itself.^[6]

According to Vega herself, she particularly liked singing because it is through this medium that she is able to best express her inner thoughts and feelings. This became especially true after the tragic loss of her brother Joey, to whom she was particularly very close to. Joey was stabbed to death by hired killers, who mistook him for another person they were hired to look for and then kill, while hanging out with his friends in 1983. His untimely death at the tender age of 22 proved to be devastating for the young Julie, who was then made to repeatedly wish to join him in death.^[3]

At the time of her death, Vega was supposed to promote First Love,^[3] do a second album for Emerald containing all Filipino language songs, and perform with Imelda Papin in singing engagements both in the Philippines and abroad.^[6]

[edit] Education

In spite of her hectic showbiz schedule, Vega was still able to attend to her studies in school. She studied at the Our Lady of Sacred Heart School from grade school until first year high school before transferring to St. Joseph's College where she finished her high school education. The schools proved to be accessible to her since both are located not far from where her family used to live at 11th Avenue, Murphy, Cubao, Quezon City. She was supposed to attend the University of the Philippines for her college education at the time of her death.^[1][2]

[edit] Illness and early death

.

Not long after her high school graduation in 1985, Vega began complaining of extreme weakness and lack of sensation, particularly on her lower body. This prompted her parents to bring her to a private hospital for diagnosis and treatment. She was later diagnosed with a form of demyelinating disease,^[3] which was highly suspected to be either Guillain-Barré syndrome^[9] or multiple sclerosis.^[10] As Vega’s condition became worse, her parents were forced to have her confined to the Quezon Institute as they could no longer afford the increasing amount of her hospital bills. Sometime after her confinement there, she contracted bronchopneumonia, making her condition even worse than before.^[3]

Vega was transferred to the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City at about 5:00 p.m on May 6, 1985 where she died suddenly and peacefully around ninety minutes later at the hospital's intensive care unit, just 15 days shy of her 17th birthday.^[2] Her cause of death was officially listed as cardiac arrest secondary to bronchopneumonia. Her untimely death left Anna Liza with an incomplete storyline and the Filipino people in total shock. After lying in state at Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City, her body was laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City in a funeral attended by countless of grieving fans and colleagues from Philippine showbiz.^[6][11]

[edit] Life story

Vega's life story was most notably shown on film through The Life Story of Julie Vega, which was shown shortly after her death, and on television through the October 2, 2003 episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya. Nadia Montenegro portrayed the ill-fated movie and soap opera actress and singer, Jimmy Morato and Alicia Alonzo portrayed her parents, while Vega's real-life brother Steve and babysitter Flor Argawanon appeared as themselves on the film adaptation.^[12] For the television adaptation, Angelica Panganiban portrayed Vega while Rio Locsin and Michael De Mesa portrayed her parents. The said episode was well-received by both critics and Julie Vega fans alike and is noted for its use of actual footage of Vega’s burial which featured not only fans but also celebrities like Fernando Poe Jr. and Janice De Belen in mourning her death. The video footage was lent to the Maalaala Mo Kaya producers for the episode by the Postigos themselves.^[11]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Movies

Year	Title	Character/Role
1985	Lovingly Yours, Helen: The Movie	Ida
1984	Daddy's Little Darlings	Chiqui
1984	Dear Mama	Joy
1983	Don’t Cry for Me Papa	-
1983	Iiyak Ka Rin	April
1983	Isang Bala Ka Lang!	Angela
1983	Roman Rapido	Carmen
1983	To Mama with Love	Mylene
1982	Mother Dear	-
1982	Where Love Has Gone	Liza
1981	Flor de Liza	Liza
1981	Mga Basang Sisiw	-
1980	Anak ng Atsay	Lisa
1980	Angelita...Ako ang Iyong Ina	Angelita
1980	Kape't Gatas	Wewet
1980	Pompa	Pompa
1979	Durugin si Totoy Bato	-
1979	Roberta	Roberta
1978	Mga Mata ni Angelita	Angelita
1975	Ang Pag-ibig Ko’y Huwag Mong Sukatin	-
19??	Ang Milagro sa Porta Vaga	-
19??	Mortal	-

[edit] Television

Year	Title	Role	TV Network
1979	Anna Liza	Anna Liza	GMA Network

[edit] Discography

[edit] Album

• First Love - 1985, Emerald Recording Company

All songs written by Mon Del Rosario except for First Love, which was written by Alex Catedrilla.

1. The Memory Will Remain
2. Only a Dream
3. First Love
4. So Impatient
5. Somewhere in My Past
6. Someone Special

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Julie Vega at the Internet Movie Database

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