Falling Stars

Dear Mouse, Have you ever wondered where ageing idle movie stars went before they found politics as a good option ? The following stories were what I gathered from a couple of senior retirees who are a delight to talk to. The lady was looking for a room because her daughter-in-law declined to take her in when she she got evicted from her apartment. Sabi niya kahit garahe lang. But that is another story. She has been here in the States for 40 years and even in her pre-senior years, she was already a regular attendee in Filipino community gathering. She took interest in the article I downloaded and printed about Aga Muhlach threatening to leave for the US when political and economic conditions in the Philippines would not improve. She commented that “I did not know he is dumb”. Doesn’t he know that the US economy has still to recover from a crisis? "These movie stars",she continued, " they came here several years ago in droves thinking that their looks were enough to get them high paying jobs. As you can see, mamera lang dito ang guwapo. Hahaha" Story 1 There was this has-been-movie idol who came to the US but who never got employed. He had no other option but to join the movie stars peddling the cooking pots and pans that were not meant for use but just for display. A Filipino-American household that owned this set of cooking pans was regarded to have “ARRIVED”. hahaha .He did not make good in the selling. He was an action star and therefore had few words..(hahaha). His territory manager was a young woman who must also have been star struck. He married her. She was proud to have a former movie star as a husband. So what if he was a has-been? The actor’s son was so devastated that he became a bad boy both in reel and real life. Story 2 This actor was not a has been yet when he came to the US. He was a big star in the Philippines, adored by many and worshipped by women. In fact he married three times.. One was a Filam that he married to get a green card when his career suffered a slump. He left her when he met a mega star, whom he married in a very elaborate wedding in a cathedral. The third was just a live-in but he got a daughter by her. When he was being rumored to be reconciling with the long suffering wife, he suddenly jumped to marriage to a beautiful model. Haah. One scandal led to another and a case that could have brought him to prison made him fly to the US. Where is he now? He is still in the States, rumored to have married a moneyed lady who is a lot older than him. There was a press release that he was studying in some prestigious university. People in the islands should know that universities here have always extension classes for short term courses that do not make them bona fide degree students. hahaha Story 3 The brothers were both actors who had beautiful and popular actresses as their girl friends. Both the actresses were doing good in the box office but the two were not. The whole family went (not migrated) to the US. Without documentations, the only jobs that they can get were being valets on a per diem basis. Coming back to the Phils years later, they claimed that it is their business. One brother eloped with the daughter of a former movie queen who was originally known as Taray Queen. He sealed their fates. Rumor was that the ma-in-law collected some thousands for tipping off some illegals. Sabi nila tsismis. Pag tsismis, you cannot trace the origin. hahaha Story 4 He was a has been heart throb, married and separated from a movie queen. He came to the US because his star was not only shining but his pockets also dripped. There were new handsomer young actors invading the moviedom. They said that in the US, he worked as a gas boy. Press release showed him in an old expensive car to belie the story. Once, I had this picture taken infont of a parked Porsche. I showed them to my friends in the Philippines. Sabi nila. Wow kotse mo. I raise my left brow. Back to the falling star. He came home to the Philippines. The storyteller said that it might be some paper problems. He got involved with a popular actress and a rumor that a video was taken during their intimate moments--for their eyes only. The storyteller thought that he must have made some money from it. He went back to the States and married a moneyed old woman, according to the rumor. hahaha Story 5 He was an action star. There were no more action films for him. At least he was honest to tell his friends when he came back to the country that he worked as a taxi driver. hahaha Story 6 He was a popular basketball player. He worked as janitor in the US. He married a basketballstarstruck fan who knew him during his hoop days.hahaha Story 7 He was a movie pop idol when he was young. Together with his wife, they fled to the US when the wife was sued for estafa. He became a top sales agent of the cooking pots and pans because of his good looks. They came back to the Philippines and the beautiful daughter became a star. She was rumored to have a rich prince as a fallback when her stars started to fade. A scandal in award winning ceremony pulled her popularity down. Not even all the kings horses in a beauty contest made her star glow again, so off she went back to the US. Her press releases claimed that she was in Hollywood and was making it big in program hosting. Sometimes, her parents also come to the US. The mother sells jewelries that she claimed are her daughter’s.She was also the lady who claimed that the result of the scan of her baby from a rich businessman shows that the unformed fetus exactly looked like the mother. (Arrgh).hahaha Now these ageing and falling stars have a new fallback. Politics. When asked if this is just a chismis, the storyteller from Olongapo who is a natural-born citizen since her mother was an American quipped, Oy iha, kung tsismis lang yan, kung may pera sana ako, may -asawa na rin akong dating artista. Some people would accuse me of harboring dislike for movie stars because I am not a star material. While it takes some to write an article as a reaction to annoy people; it will take me just one word…SO ? The CA t