Berting Labra

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Berting Labra (born Roberto S. Labra; April 17, 1933 – February 10, 2009) was a Filipino child star and veteran actor equally adept in comedy and drama, in action flicks and musicals.

Personal life and career

Labra starred in Apat na Taga in 1953. He was a child star who shared screen with Fernando Poe Sr. in several films, including Palaboy ng Tadhana, Sagur, Kanto Boy, and Alimudin.

He was only six years old when he made his stage debut. He was discovered by Poe Sr. when he was looking for a child actor who could sing for the movie.

Labra also witnessed the murder of his father, Francisco Labra, former bantamweight and featherweight champion of the Orient, in the hands of Japanese soldiers. "He was tortured," Labra told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a 2005 interview.

The elder Poe became the 10-year-old's foster father.

Five years after the elder Poe's death, Labra, then a teenage, teamed up with Fernando "Da King" Poe Jr. in the 1956 box-office hit Lo' Waist Gang, a film that spawned a string of other movies and a lifelong friendship with Da King.

In 1969, Labra and fellow action star Eddie Fernandez were jailed for murder.^[1] Labra spent 13 years in Muntinlupa, only to be exonerated by the Supreme Court.

On December 25, 1982, the film The Cute... The Sexy n' The Tiny premiered. Labra plays one the leads.^[2]

Labra appeared in the 1991 action film Manong Gang with actor Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. alongside Dina Bonevie, Paquito Diaz and Max Alvarado. Labra's last film, the 2007 comedy M.O.N.A.Y ni Mr. Shooli, co-starred actor Leo Martinez.

Death

Labra died on February 10, 2009, due to

• Fernando Poe, Jr. once stated that "Berting was the greatest Filipino actor of all time.^[4]
  "
• He was named Mickey Rooney and Bobby Breen of the Philippines, the Filipino version of Hollywood Child Wonders in the 1940s.^[4]

Sources