Charles Wahib "Charlie" Valdez Davao (October 7, 1934 – August 8, 2010) was a
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
actor known for roles in
film and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
.
Early life
Born Carlos Wahib Davao y Valdez in
Iloilo City
Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on t ...
of a
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
mestizo of
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
descent (
Jordanian). He moved to
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
in 1954 to pursue a degree in
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
student at the
University of the East
The University of the East ( fil, Pamantasan ng Silangan), also known as UE, is a leading private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the ...
.
He became involved in commercial and print ad modeling as a student.
[
]
Career
Although he was attentive in school, his main goal was to engage in film acting, which he realized after a friend told him about an audition at the Sampaguita Pictures
Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City.
History
Sampaguita Pictures was es ...
.
He did not miss the chance and passed the audition with flying colors.
In 1959, he was introduced in Isinumpa, a drama film that also starred Dolphy
Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. (; July 25, 1928 – July 10, 2012), better known by his stage names Dolphy, Pidol, and Golay, was a Filipino comedian and actor. He is widely regarded as the country's "King of Comedy" for his comedic talent embodied ...
, and topbilled by Rick Rodrigo and Barbara Perez
Barbara Perez (born January 4, 1938) is a Filipina actress in movies and television in the Philippines. She was tagged as the " Audrey Hepburn of the Philippines" due to her doe eyes, pixie face, swan-like neck and 19-inch waistline. In the west ...
.
Among his most memorable performances were in 1962 film ''Kaming Mga Talyada'', where he played gay with matinee idols the late Juancho Gutierrez
Juancho is a town in the Pedernales Province of the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. ...
and Jose Mari Gonzales, and Trudis Liit with Vilma Santos
Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (, born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, producer, and politician. She served as a House Deputy Speaker since 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district since ...
. Both films were produced by Sampaguita.
But lead roles were hard to come by because he was identified with character assignments.
Davao's biggest break came when he did ''Pitong Matahari'', a James Bond-type of a film where he played Agent 009 in 1965.
Soon after, he was given action roles until he was assigned villain roles again. In the 70s, he also starred in several Hollywood co-produced films such as ''A Fistful of Feathers'', '' Blind Rage'', '' The Last Reunion'' and ''Women in Cages
''Women in Cages'' is a 1971 women in prison sexploitation film directed by Gerardo de León and starring Jennifer Gan, Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, and Pam Grier. Co-produced by Roger Corman, it was prominently featured in the ''Planet Terror'' ...
'' where he was billed as Charles Davis. His other films included ''Palengke Queen'' with Nora Aunor in 1982; ''Pedro Tunasan'' with Lito Lapid in 1983; ''Get Victor Corpus: The Rebel Soldier'' with Rudy Fernandez in 1987; ''The Rape of Virginia P.'' with Alma Moreno in 1989; '' Batas ng 45.'' with Fernando Poe Jr. in 1991 and '' Volta'' with Ai Ai de la Alas in 2004.
Among his films associated with Mindanao were ''Bad Boy from Dadiangas'', starring then world champ Rolando Navarrete
Rolando Navarrete (born February 14, 1957) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1991. He held the WBC super-featherweight title between August 1981 and May 1982.
Fighting style
A fine boxer, Navarrete had a good tal ...
, and ''Magindanao'' with Muhammad Faisal, both in 1982.
He played the ultimate bad guy, Satan, in the film ''The Killing of Satan'', starring Ramon Revilla Sr., in 1983. His last film appearance was in the 2007 film ''Desperadas
''Desperadas'' is a 2007 Filipino romantic comedy film written by Roy Iglesias, directed by Joel Lamangan, and starring Marian Rivera, Ruffa Gutierrez, Rufa Mae Quinto and Iza Calzado. The film was followed by the sequel '' Desperadas 2'' in 20 ...
'' as father of Marian Rivera's character .
He started appearing on TV in 1997 with the soap ''Mula sa Puso'' with Claudine Barretto for ABS-CBN. His last appearance on ABS-CBN was in 2009 during the Chapter 14 of ABS-CBN's primetime series, ''May Bukas Pa'' as Don Carlos, the grandfather of Abby (KC Concepcion
Maria Kristina Cassandra "KC" Cuneta Concepcion (; born April 7, 1985) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, entrepreneur, socialite and humanitarian. She has had lead roles in Philippine films '' For The First Time'' (2008) and ''Whe ...
). Davao last appeared on television in GMA shows like ''Darna
Darna () is a Filipina superheroine created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. The character's first appearance was in ''Pilipino Komiks'' (Ace Publications, Inc.) #77 on May 13, 1950. Darna is a retooling of Ravelo's earlier cha ...
'' and '' Rosalinda''.[
]
Personal life
Davao was married to Emma Marie Abiera, a Spanish professor at the St. Theresa's College. They have four children — Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
, Ricky Ricky may refer to:
Places
*Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic
*Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic
* Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...
, Mylene and Marlene
Marlene may refer to:
People
* Marlene (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Marlene (Burmese businesswoman), Nang Kham Noung (born 1991)
* Marlene (Japanese singer) (born 1960), a Filipina jazz singer active in Japan
Film
* ...
. Mylene died in an accident when she was 5 years old. Davao remarried to Mary Grace Iñigo, sister of actress-comedian Cecille "Dabiana" Iñigo, when Emma Marie died. They have two children, one of them was former child star Charlon Davao.
Death
Charlie Davao died unexpectedly at Philippine General Hospital
The Philippine General Hospital (also known as University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital or UP–Philippine General Hospital), simply referred to as UP–PGH or PGH, is a tertiary state-owned hospital administered and operated ...
in Manila on August 8, 2010, at the age of 75. He had been suffering from colon cancer.
Filmography
Film
TV shows
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davao, Charlie
1934 births
2010 deaths
20th-century Filipino male actors
21st-century Filipino male actors
Filipino male film actors
Filipino male television actors
Filipino people of Jordanian descent
Filipino people of Spanish descent
Deaths from cancer in the Philippines
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Filipino male comedians
Male actors from Iloilo
People from Capiz
People from Iloilo City
Visayan people
Burials at The Heritage Park
ABS-CBN personalities
GMA Network personalities