Bert de Leon (May 28, 1947 – November 21, 2021) was a Filipino television director. De Leon was known for directing some of the longest-running shows in the Philippines, ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat Bulaga!'' (), formerly ''Eat... Bulaga!'', is a noontime Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. Produced by TAPE Inc., it is the longest running variety show in the Philippines with over 13,000 episodes. Originally ...

'', ''

Bubble Gang ''Bubble Gang'' is a Philippine television sketch comedy show broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Frasco Mortiz, it stars Michael V. It premiered on October 20, 1995 on the network's Friday night line up replacing '' Vilma''. The show is the ...

'' and ''

Pepito Manaloto ''Pepito Manaloto: Tuloy ang Kuwento'' () formerly ''Pepito Manaloto'', ''Pepito Manaloto: Ang Tunay na Kwento'', ''Pepito Manoloto: Kuwento Kuwento'' and ''Pepito Manaloto: Ang Unang Kuwento'', is a Philippine television sitcom series broadcas ...

''.

Career

Directorial

De Leon is known for directing various

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

for

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

such as ''

'', ''

'' and ''

Okay Ka, Fairy Ko! ''Okay Ka, Fairy Ko!'' () is a Philippine television fantasy situational comedy series broadcast by Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, ABS-CBN and GMA Network. Directed by Bert de Leon, it stars Vic Sotto, Charito Solis and Alice Dixson. ...

''. He also directed shows for other networks. He directed the ABC 5; ''Pops!'' of

Pops Fernandez Maria Cielito "Pops" Lukban Fernandez (born December 12, 1966) is a Filipina singer, entertainer, entrepreneur, TV host and actress. Dubbed as The Philippines Concert Queen in which for the last Four decades she has performed Internationally ...

and ''Look Who’s Talking''. De Leon also directed ''

Iskul Bukol ''Iskul Bukol'' is a Philippine situational comedy show that aired on the IBC-13 network from October 1978 to 1988. It starred Filipino comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon. The show centered around student life in the fictional Wanbo ...

'', ''

TODAS Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a ...

'', ''VIP with Vilma Santos'', and ''

The Sharon Cuneta Show ''The Sharon Cuneta Show'' (also known as ''"Sharon"'' and ''"TSCS"'') was a Philippine musical variety show hosted by the Philippines' megastar Sharon Cuneta. It aired on Sunday night from September 14, 1986, to June 15, 1997. Broadcast Histor ...

''. De Leon inherited the directorial role for ''Bubble Gang'' when his predecessor Uro dela Cruz died in February 2016. His last work would be the prequel ''Pepito Manaloto: Ang Unang Kuwento'' which was in production as of 2021.

Musical career

De Leon was also part of a four-member acoustic band, Area One. He scouted the pop band

Side A The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

for Ivory Music.

Personal life

His health deteriorated in 2021; he suffered a heart attack in July which required him to undergo an

angiogram Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is performe ...

and

angioplasty Angioplasty, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atheroscle ...

, and contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

amidst a pandemic of the disease in October, which led to colleagues

Michael V. Beethoven Del Valle Bunagan (born December 17, 1969), known professionally as Michael V. and also known as Bitoy, is a Filipino actor, comedian, and recording artist, who appears in the GMA Network show ''Bubble Gang'' and ''Pepito Manaloto' ...

and

Ronnie Henares Ronnie Henares (born February 8, 1955) is a Filipino actor, musician, comedian, producer and talent manager. He regularly appears in ''Pepito Manaloto'' as Tommy Diones. Career Ronnie Henares is a member of the band Midlife Crisis in the Phili ...

to host a fundraising for him. He died at the St. Luke's Medical Center in

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig ( fil, Lungsod ng Taguig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 886,722 people. Located in the northwestern shores of ...

on November 21, 2021. De Leon had a partner, Annalyn Nakpil Jomeo, with whom he had one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Leon, Bert 1947 births 2021 deaths Filipino television directors GMA Network (company) people