Lilian Velez-Clímaco (March 3, 1924 – June 26, 1948) was a Filipina film actress and singer. Her 1948 murder by fellow actor

Narding Anzures Bernardo “Narding” Anzures (1928–1949) was a Filipino film actor and convicted murderer. The son of actors Miguel Anzures and Rosa Aguirre, Anzures had starred in pre–World War II films as a child actor under Sampaguita Pictures & LVN ...

scandalized the post-war

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Career

Born in

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

to a composer, Velez first came into the limelight when she won an amateur radio singing contest in the mid-1930s. Prior to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, her singing career thrived, and she popularized one of her father's songs, ''Sa Kabukiran''. Velez also won the heart of Jose Climaco, the manager of the radio station which had sponsored the contest which won her fame. They were married in 1942 and had one daughter named Vivian V. Climaco (May 4, 1944 – September 19, 2021). Her film career began upon the resumption of Filipino film production after the end of the war. She joined Filippine Films, and with her husband as director, starred in such films as ''Binibiro Lamang Kita'', ''Ang Estudyante'', and ''Sa Kabukiran'', inspired by the song that had earlier earned her fame. Her leading man in these films was

, a former child star. Her last film appearance was when she joined LVN Pictures, after the success of her previous films produced by Filippine Films. She starred in her first and last movie appearance, which is ''Enkantada'' with her new leading man,

Jaime de la Rosa Tomás Lim de la Rosa (September 18, 1921 – December 2, 1992), also known for his screen name Jaime de la Rosa was a Filipino prewar and postwar actor and politician. Early life Tomás de la Rosa was the first screen name he used, later chan ...

. It was released in 1948, the same year of her murder.

Selected filmography

Personal life

Velez had three brothers named Theodoro (a popular craftsman), Cecilio and George (or Jose or Joseph) and two sisters named Gloria and Aida.

Murder

After the success of ''Sa Kabukiran'', LVN Pictures decided to cast

as Velez's leading man in her next film. The decision caused distress on the part of Anzures, who had seemingly become obsessed with the married Velez. At 1:00 am of June 26, 1948, Anzures paid an unexpected visit to the

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

home of Velez. Upon his arrival, he stabbed Velez to death and a housemaid who had come to her mistress's assistance. The crime was committed within view of Velez's toddler daughter Vivian, who was unharmed during the incident. Anzures was promptly arrested, tried and convicted for the murders. The crime and the subsequent trial was a

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

in Manila. Anzures later died in jail from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

; his exact motives for the murder were never fully determined. She was buried at Manila North Cemetery.

1995 film biography

In 1995, the murder of Lilian Velez was the subject of a high-profile film directed by

Carlo J. Caparas Carlo Magno Jose Caparas (born December 15, 1948) is a Filipino comic strip creator and writer-turned film director and producer. He is best known for creating such Filipino superheroes and comic book characters as ''Panday'', '' Bakekang'' ...

. Starring award-winning actress Sharon Cuneta as Velez and

Cesar Montano Cesar Manhilot (born August 1, 1962), known professionally as Cesar Montano (), is a Filipino actor, film producer and film director. Montano started in show business as a commercial model.

as Anzures, the film was one in a string of "true-crime" films churned out by Caparas in the mid-late 1990s.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velez, Lilian 1924 births 1948 deaths 20th-century Filipino actresses 20th-century Filipino women singers Deaths by stabbing in the Philippines Filipino child actresses Filipino women pop singers Filipino film actresses Filipino murder victims People from Cebu City Actresses from Cebu Singers from Cebu City People from Quezon City People murdered in the Philippines