Mila del Sol

Mila del Sol
Born	Clarita Rivera Villarba (1923-05-12) May 12, 1923 Tondo, Manila, Philippines
Occupation	Filipino actor
Years active	1939-present
Children	Jeanne Young

Clarita Rivera Villarba (born May 12, 1923^[1]), better known as Mila del Sol, is a Filipina film actress and entrepreneur. Del Sol was born in Tondo, Manila. She gained fame in her very first lead role in the 1939 film Giliw Ko. She had been discovered by LVN Pictures President Doña Sisang de Leon, who insisted in casting her over the objections of the film's director, who felt she was too young for the part.^[2] It was the film's director, Carlos Vander Tolosa, who gave her the screen name "Mila del Sol".

Film production shut down during the Japanese occupation and was restored only in 1945. Del Sol returned to LVN and starred in its production of Manuel Conde's Orasang Ginto, the first post-war Filipino film. She starred in other LVN films of the 1940s, including Ibong Adarna (1949) and Villa Hermosa.^[1]

Del Sol retired from films to raise a family in the 1950s, but staged a comeback in 1960 with two films released that year, Pakipot and Tatlong Magdalena.^[1] The following year, she starred in an international production, Espionage Far East. She started a business in 1964, and starred in a long-running television series.

Early life

Del Sol was born in Tondo, Manila at the Mary Johnston Hospital, in the free ward. Her father, Amado C. Rivera, worked at the internal revenue service during the day, and was a waiter at night. He served as a guerilla in the Philippines during World War II. Her mother, Lorenza Villarba, stayed at home to raise eight children.

Del Sol attended Malate Primary School, San Andres Elementary, and Intramuros Intermediate School. She could not go to high school, since she had to start working, at the age of 12. She later attended Hollywood High School in the 1950s, after the birth of her third child. She took some courses at Los Angeles City College and Ateneo de Manila University.

Career

1938–1942

Del Sol appeared in three films in 1938 (including Ang Maya opposite Fernando Poe, Sr.), but got her big break as a principal character in the 1939 classic Giliw Ko, for which she was honored by then Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon. This was the first movie of the storied film production company. She made twelve other films for LVN during this period, including Hali (1940), an early example of the Sarong genre, and Sawing Gantimpala (1940), which was based on a song written for del Sol by Aurora Quezon.

1946–1952

LVN stopped film production during World War II, when the Philippines was occupied by Japan. Del Sol volunteered for the Red Cross, and frequented Prisoner of War camps along with other "Blue Ladies" of the Philippine film industry. LVN's first post-war film, Orasang Ginto again starred del Sol. She made more than twenty other films during this period including Garrison 13 (1946), which recounted atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines during the war.

1960 onward

Del Sol migrated to the United States, and lived there and in Europe for much of the 50s. She returned to the Philippines in the 60s, when she made two more films, and starred in the hit television series Problema mo na yan. In 1964, she founded Superior Maintenance Services, which employs over ten thousand people, and continues to be managed by her grandchildren. Del Sol chairs the Pagasa ng Kabataan Foundation, which provides scholarships to indigent youth, and affordable housing to the elderly.^[3]

Actors & Directors

Del Sol acted opposite all the male leads of her period, including Fernando Poe, Sr., Ely Ramos, Rogelio de la Rosa, Jaime de la Rosa, Leopoldo Salcedo, Armando Goyena, Teddy Benavídez, Fred Cortes, and José Padilla, Jr.. She was directed by José Nepomuceno, Carlos Vander Tolosa, Manuel Conde, Lamberto V. Avellana, Gregorio Fernandes, Vicente Salumbides, Gerardo de León, Ramon A. Estella, Manuel Silos, and Emmanuel Borlaza.

Relationships

Del Sol is the sister of actresses Gloria Imperial and Guia Imperial, the aunt of the Arroyo administration Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, the mother of Pinay actress and television host Jeanne Young, and grandmother of 2007 Rock Awards Guitarist of the Year Ira Cruz, actor Onemig Bondoc, and Parañaque City Vice-Mayor Gustavo Tambunting.

Filmography

• 1938 -Ang maya
• 1938 -Hatol ng mataas na langit
• 1938 -Mariang Alimango [X'Otic]
• 1939 -Giliw Ko (Lvn)
• 1940 -Hali (Lvn)
• 1940 -Prinsesa ng Kumintang [Lvn]
• 1940 -Sawing Gantimpala [Lvn]
• 1940 -Maginoong Takas [Lvn]
• 1940 -Nag-iisang Sangla [Lvn]
• 1941 -Angelita [Lvn]
• 1941 -Hiyas ng Dagat [Lvn]
• 1941 -Rosalinda [Lvn]
• 1941 -Villa Hermosa [LVN]
• 1941 -Ararong Ginto [Lvn]
• 1941 -Ibong Adarna [Lvn]
• 1942 -Caviteno [Lvn]
• 1946 -Orasang Ginto [Lvn]
• 1946 -Garrison 13 [Lvn]
• 1946 -Alaala Kita [Lvn]
• 1946 -Dalawang Daigdig [Lvn]
• 1946 -Ang Prinsipeng Hindi Tumatawa [Lvn]
• 1947 -Maling Akala [Lvn]
• 1947 -Violeta [Lvn]
• 1947 -Binatang Taring [Lvn]
• 1947 -Isang Ngiti mo Lamang [Eduque]
• 1947 -Romansa [Lvn]
• 1947 -Sarungbanggi [Lvn]
• ???? -Tatlong limbas [FPP]
• 1948 -Malaya (Mutya sa Gubat) [Lvn]
• 1949 -Hiyas ng Pamilihan [Lvn]
• 1949 -Kuba sa Quiapo [Lvn]
• 1949 -Lupang Pangako [Lvn]
• 1949 -Batalyong XIII [Lvn]
• 1949 -Don Juan Tenoso[Lvn]
• 1950 -Nuno sa Punso [Lvn]
• 1950 -Dayang-Dayang [Lvn]
• 1950 -In Despair [Lvn]
• 1951 -Reyna Elena [Lvn]
• 1951 -Anak ng Pulubi [Lvn]
• 1952 -Romansa sa Nayon [Lvn]
• 1952 -Haring Solomon at Reyna Sheba [Lvn]
• 1957 -Escapade in Japan
• 1960 -Pakipot
• 1960 -Tatlong Magdalena
• 1961 -Espionage: Far East
• 1969 -Young Girl

• 1974 -Batya't Palu-palo
• 1989 -Kahat Wala Ka Na

Television

• Rawhide
• Silent service
• Problema mo na yan
• Talagang ganyan (with Leopoldo Salcedo, Dindo Fernando, and Jeanne Young)
• 2010 Rosalka ABS-CBN

Notes

References

• Danny Villanueva (1994). "Philippine Film". In Nicanor Tiongson. CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art VIII (1st ed.). Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. p. 237. ISBN 971-8546-31-6.  |accessdate= requires |url= (help)

External links

• Mila del Sol at the Internet Movie Database