![]() The 230-page tome is generously illustrated with photographs that all the more bring Lilian’s journey to life, and help us imagine a working Filipina’s struggles amidst the war and after it. Spangler, who has authored books on Philippine cinema’s early stars, brought the diaries to the attention of Archivo and Arc Lico. It was writer Renz Spangler whom Lilian’s family entrusted with the manuscript. That life is captured in the singer-actress’ own words, in her own diary out this month, published by Archivo 1984 and Arc Lico. She was a performer, after all, and a woman, working during wartime Philippines. There indeed remain questions about Lilian Velez’s death, an event that might have overshadowed the colorful life she lived and the contagious joy she derived from it, as well as the lessons she took away from its unique challenges. Publicity shot of Lilian Velez from Joe Climaco's Sa Kabukiran (1947). In a headline article of The Manila Times dated June 30, two cases were filed against lone suspect Bernardo “Narding” Anzures: one for the murder of Lilian and the other of her housemaid, Pacita Doe (her family name was unknown at the time of filing) based on the testimonies of the child Vivian Velez Climaco, and their housemaid, Nenita, the two eyewitnesses.īut why would an erstwhile leading man kill his screen partner and put an end to her promising career as singer and actress? Was it unrequited love? Betrayal? Frustration? Jealousy? Or was it just what the papers called “fantastic spell”? “City Attorney Jose Fernandez said he expected to file murder charges against Anzures later in the day.” I do funny things sometimes and everything just goes blank.’ Police quoted the actor as saying: ‘I did it. “The film actor, Narding Anzures, 21, was taken to the police station in suburban Quezon City by Manila’s Mayor Manuel de la Fuente this morning after surrendering voluntarily to the official. Several hours later the actress’ 4-year-old daughter, Vivian, named the slayer. ![]() Lilian Velez and her 17-year-old maid were killed with a hunting knife. Early today Manila police announced her leading man had confessed. “A beautiful Filipino radio and film actress and her maid were stabbed to death about 2 A.M. ![]() Source: Vivian Velez Climaco Ocampo Collection “Under a Spell, Leading Man Kills Filipina Film Star” screamed the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.Įven The New York Times had its own story on the murder entitled, “Actress is Slain, Leading Man is Held.” “Lilian Velez, Star of Radio and Films, Slain in Philippines,” reported The Boston Daily Globe. “Child Names Manila Movie Beauty’s Killer,” said the New York Daily News. Going over newspaper accounts of the murder, one realizes how big and sensational the story was when it first hogged the headlines of broadsheets and tabloids on 28 June 1948. The beautiful victim was Lilian Velez, 24-year-old radio and movie star.Love unrequited took a gruesome toll when Lilian Velez, the country’s most beloved movie personality died in the hands of Narding Anzures.” “Just below the bed was the body of a beautiful woman, with face downward, her hands in a frustrated last supreme effort to reach the bed. ![]() Lilian Velez and Narding Azures on the set of Fermin Barva's Ang Estudyante (1947) produced by Philippine Films. A policeman, entering the bedroom, was taken aback. At the center of the room was a blot of blood, the beginning of a crimson trail to a bedroom. Chairs and tables were overturned and shattered, ornamental glasses littered the floor. The report goes on: “As police officers entered the fashionable chalet, a housemaid announced with tragic finality: ‘Lilian Velez is dead!’ Police officers found the sala furniture topsy-turvy. Mesa Heights, in response to an anonymous phone call reporting ‘something tragic’ that happened at the residence of the Climacos.” “The prowlers (the Philippine Constabulary or P.C.) were speeding to Pulog Street at Sta. Written a few years after the sensational crime elicited shockwaves worldwide, it reported about the early Sunday morning when police found the actress’ body. Jose’s article in the entertainment magazine, Movie Confidential, about the murder of Filipina star of radio and screen Lilian Velez. “A piercing scream, blood-curdling and long cut through the friendly stillness of the night, blade-like.”
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