Charito Solis


Rosario Violeta Solís Hernández, better known as Charito Solís, was a FAMAS and Gawad Urian Award-winning Filipino film actress, in addition to being the first Philippine woman who have bared her chest in recorded film.

Profile

Rosario Violeta Solís Hernández was born in Manila. At age 19, she was introduced by her uncle, the film director F. H. Constantino to Doña Narcisa de Leon, the head of LVN Pictures, who cast her to star in her initial movie Niña Bonita, an adaptation of Frank Capra's It Happened One Night. The film was a success, and marked the beginning for Solís of a 43-year career in film that lasted until her death. Solís died on January 9, 1998 in Calamba City from cardiac arrest.

Film career

Solís would star in well over 100 films starting with LVN Pictures' classics such as Niña Bonita, Charito, I Love You!, Walang Sugat, Malvarosa, Kundiman Ng Lahi and Emily. She was featured in several of the best-known and critically acclaimed movies of Philippine cinema. She played the female lead in the 1962 film adaptation of Jose Rizal's El filibusterismo, directed by Gerardo de Leon.
Among her many films she also appeared in Eddie Romero's Manila, Open City, Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi and Agila ; in Mike de Leon's Kisapmata and Batch 81 ; in Ishmael Bernal's City After Dark and Hinugot sa Langit ; in Lino Brocka's Init and Ina, Kapatid, Anak ; and as the narrator in Marilou Diaz-Abaya's Karnal. Other notable performances of Solís were featured in Angustia, Tatlong Mukha Ni Pandora, Magda Sales, Claudia and Boomerang.
From 1967-71, she was under contract in “Nepomuceno Productions”. Her Eight films for that outfit were Dahil Sa Isang Bulaklak, Ang Langit Sa Lupa, Luha Sa Karimlan, Manila Open City, Igorota, Ang Pulubi, Pipo and The Hunted. Her performance in Dahil Sa Isang Bulaklak earned her the 1967 Asian Best Actress award from the Asian Film Festival held in Tokyo, Japan. Dahil sa... also brought a bonus to Solis: with the film being the country's entry to the Best Foreign Film category at the Academy Awards, she and Luis Nepomuceno, the film's producer, were given tickets to see the 40th Academy Awards, the first Filipinos to ever do so.
After her association with Nepomuceno Productions ended, she appeared in several more films such as Shake, Rattle & Roll, Hindi Kami Damong Ligaw, Ms. Teresa Abad Ako Si Bing, Hugasan Mo Ang Aking Kasalanan, Babae Sa Likod Ng Salamin, Beerhouse, Babae Huwag Kang Tukso, Tundo Isla Puting Bato, Babae Ngayon At Kailanman, Walang Katapusang Tag-araw, Mga Tinik Ng Babae, Iwasan Kabaret, Hubad Sa Mundo, Mga Huwad Na Mananayaw, Init, and Alaga.
Solís became the first Filipino actress to play the lead role in an internationally released Japanese movie, in 1961 when she starred in Kenji Misumi's “Shaka”, a film biography on the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. She appeared in another Japanese film The Princess and I produced by Daiei Japan which had its Philippine Premiere in Lyric Theater on Escolta on October 10, 1962. Solís starred in another international production, alongside Tetchie Agbayani and John Saxon in Eddie Romero's Desire.

Awards

Her performance in 1967's Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak, directed by Luis Nepomuceno, won her Best Actress award at the 1967 Asian Film Festival. She again starred for Nepomuceno the following year in Igorota, where she became the first Filipina actress to bare her breasts on film. Her role in Igorota won her the 1968 FAMAS Best Actress Award, one of 5 she would win during her career. Her other four FAMAS Best Actress wins came in 1959 for Kundiman ng Lahi; in 1960 for Emily; in 1963 for Angustia; and in 1983 for Don't Cry for Me, Papa. After her fifth win, in 1984, she became the first actress to be inducted into the FAMAS Hall of Fame. She also won the Gawad Urian Best Actress award in 1979 for Ina, Kapatid, Anak, and for Best Supporting Actress for in 1981 and 1982 for Kisapmata and Karnal, respectively. In 1984, Solís won Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a narrator in Karnal from Philippine Academy of the Philippines.
In the first-ever Metro Manila Film Festival held in 1975, Solís won the Best Actress Award for Araw Araw, Gabi Gabi and a Best Supporting Actress in the 1981 Metro Manila Film Festival for Kisapmata. She received Ulirang Artista Lifetime Achievement Award from Philippine Movie Press Club on March 1997.
In the Catholic Mass Media Awards, she was the first lead artist to be awarded the "rock trophy" for an excellent performance as a jealous sister, wife and mother in the family drama, "Ina, Kapatid, Anak". In 1983, she was awarded the best actress rock trophy for playing the role of a manipulative mother in "Minsan May isang Ina".
YearNominated workCategoryResult
1967Dahil sa Isang BulaklakBest Actress

YearNominated workCategoryResult
1986 Moises Padilla Story: The Missing ChapterBest Supporting Actress
1985-Best Actress Hall of Fame
1984Don't Cry for me, PapaBest Actress
1982KisapmataBest Supporting Actress
1980Ina, Kapatid, AnakBest Actress
1976Araw-araw, Gabi-gabiBest Actress
1970Ang PulubiBest Actress
1969IgorotaBest Actress
1968Dahil sa Isang BulaklakBest Actress
1967ClaudiaBest Actress
1965Lagablab sa MaribojocBest Actress
1964AngustiaBest Actress
1963El FilibusterismoBest Actress
1961EmilyBest Actress
1960Kundiman ng LahiBest Actress
1958KrisalisBest Actress
1957Ulilang BirhenBest Actress

YearNominated workCategoryResult
1986 Hinugot sa Langit'Best Supporting Actress
1984KarnalBest Supporting Actress
1982KisapmataBest Supporting Actress
1982PlaygirlBest Actress
1980Ina, Kapatid, AnakBest Actress

YearNominated workCategoryResult
1984KarnalBest Supporting Actress

YearNominated workCategoryResult
1981KisapmataBest Supporting Actress
1975Araw-araw, Gabi-gabiBest Actress

YearNominated workCategoryResult
1979Ina, Kapatid, AnakBest Lead Performer
1983Minsan May isang Ina''Best Actress

Television career

From 1966 to 1968, Solís had a weekly TV show on ABS-CBN entitled The Charito Solís Show. In 1973, Solís also had a TV weekly drama show named Obra Maestra on RPN.
In the late 1980s, Solís won the chance to showcase her comedic skills, as well as to gain a younger set of fans, when she was cast opposite Vic Sotto, Alice Dixson and Aiza Seguerra in the sitcom Okey Ka Fairy Ko!. She played the imperious Ina Magenta, Enteng Kabisote's mother-in-law, a character which was loosely modeled after Agnes Moorehead's Endora on Bewitched. The popular show lasted nine years and spawned several film adaptations that continued after Solís' death. Giselle Tongi took over the role of Ina Magenta in the Enteng Kabisote movie franchises. before her death she would star in tv dramas such as Mula Sa Puso and the anthology series The Maricel Drama Special starring Maricel Soriano.

Filmography

Television
Movies
YearTitleRoleFilm Company
1999Bayad PuriMrs. Verzosa VIVA Films
1997Ipaglaban Mo: The Movie Mrs. Agoncillo Star Cinema
1996Itataya Ko ang Buhay KoEdmond's Mother Seiko Films
1996Enteng and the Shaolin KidTia Rosa M-Zet Productions
1994Kadenang BulaklakMiss Conchita Carbonell VIVA Films
1993Dahil Mahal Kita: The Dolzura Cortez StoryMother OctoArts Films
1992Miss na Miss Kita: Ang Utol Kong Hoodlum Madame Lily VIVA Films
1991Ipagpatawad MoCarmen VIVA Films
1991Ang Utol Kong HoodlumMadame Lily VIVA Films
1985God, Save Me!Ondeng Seiko Films
1984Teenage MarriageMrs. Enage Regal Films
1984Hindi Mo Ako Kayang TapakanDoña Consuelo Romero V. H. Films
1982Cross My HeartCecille VIVA Films
1979Modelong TansoRamona Ferreira Bancom Audiovision Corporation
1979Ina, Kapatid, AnakEmilia Regal Films
1979InitOsa Showbiz Incorporated
1977Walang Katapusang Tag-ArawMatilde Montalban Lea Productions
1976Babae... Sa Likod ng SalaminLaura / Lorna Reuben Canoy Productions
1974Mga Tigre ng SierracruzRamona Lea Productions
1960Kung Ako'y Mahal MoLydia Amante LVN Pictures
1959Kundiman ng LahiIsang LVN Pictures
1958MalvarosaRosa LVN Pictures
1958Villa MilagrosaVirginia LVN Pictures