Luis "Lou" Salvador Sr. (July 7, 1905 – March 1, 1973) was a Filipino basketball player, stage actor, and talent manager. Salvador was born in

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, to a

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

father and a ''

mestiza ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

'' mother.Zafra, p. 315 As a player for the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

during the

1923 Far Eastern Games The 1923 Far Eastern Championship Games was the sixth edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 21–25 May in Osaka, Empire of Japan. It was the first and only time that Osaka ...

, he scored 116 points in a single game, being one of the few basketball players to have scored over 100 points in a single game. He later became a leading figure in Philippine

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

as a talent manager and a stage show impresario. Several among his 97 children became notable personalities in the Philippine entertainment scene, beginning with his son Lou Salvador Jr., who was dubbed "The

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He became one of the most influential figures in Hollywood in the 1950s, despite a career that lasted only five years. His impact on cinema and popular culture was p ...

of the Philippines".

Basketball career

Salvador first played for the Philippine men's national basketball team at the age of seventeen, at the

1921 Far Eastern Games The 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games was the fifth edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 30 May to 3 June in Shanghai, Republic of China. A total of eight sports were co ...

held in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

.Bocobo, p. 131 He also represented the Philippines in the 1923 and the

1925 Far Eastern Games The 1925 Far Eastern Championship Games was the seventh edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 17 to 22 May in Manila, the Philippines. A total of eight sports were contested ...

, where his team in both instances won the gold medal. Salvador also played collegiate basketball for the Jose Rizal College Heavy Bombers, leading them to a national championship in 1924.

116 point career high game

Salvador's most notable basketball achievement came in May, 1923, during the

Far Eastern Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president o ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

when he scored 116 points during a match against China. With this feat, he became one of only few basketball players to have scored over 100 points in a single game. Salvador would later attribute his achievement to excellent conditioning, recounting that for a whole year prior to that game, he had practiced daily at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

compound in Manila, using a medicine ball which he would throw repeatedly to acclimatize his body. He confessed to finding ease at his achievement during the game itself, owing to his daily practice routine.

Bodabil and film career

Beginning in 1925, Salvador would make appearances in the Manila ''

bodabil Vaudeville in the Philippines, more commonly referred in the Filipino vernacular as ''bodabil'', was a popular genre of entertainment in the Philippines from the 1910s until the mid-1960s. For decades, it competed with film, radio and television ...

'' (vaudeville) stage under the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

Chipipoy, and also as Van Ludor . His sister Miami was also a ''bodabil'' performer. It was after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that Salvador attained the most influence in the Philippine entertainment scene. He became the most successful stage show impresario in the Philippines, organizing ''bodabil'' troupes that toured the country.Zafra, p. 316 Dubbed as "The Master Showman", he was credited with discovering and fostering the careers of such noted singers and comedians as Chiquito,

Bentot Arturo Vergara Medina (13 July 1920 – 19 June 1986), better known by his stage name Bentot or Ben Cosca, was a Filipino comedian and vaudevillian who spent most of his career under LVN Pictures. He had many box office hits with another famed ...

, Cachupoy,

Canuplin Canuto Francia (January 28, 1904 – September 4, 1979), better known as Canuplin, was a Filipino stage performer and magician who gained fame for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin in Filipino movies and the local bodabil circuit. Biography ...

Pepe Pimentel José "Pepe" Gonzáles Pimentel, Sr. (April 27, 1930 – January 24, 2013) was a Filipino game show host, television personality, actor, and singer. He gained fame as the first champion of the original television reality competition show ''Tawag ...

Diomedes Maturan Diomedes Maturan (August 16, 1940 – April 7, 2002) (tagged the "Perry Como of the Philippines" and "The Golden Voice") was an actor who played in ''Botika sa Baryo'' (1960) and a grand champion in ''Tawag ng Tanghalan''. Early life Maturan was ...

, and Eddie Peregrina. Salvador also dabbled in films and established his own production company, Master Films. He was a featured cast member of

Manuel Conde Manuel Conde (born Manuel Pabustan Urbano; October 9, 1915 – August 11, 1985) was a Filipino actor, director and producer. As an actor, he also used the screen name Juan Urbano during the 1930s aside from his more popular screen name. He was t ...

's ''Genghis Khan'' (1950), which was entered into competition in the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

in 1952. Salvador also directed the feature films ''Bad Boy'' (1957) and ''Barkada'' (1958), which both starred his son, Lou Salvador Jr. The Lou Salvador Sr. Memorial Award is handed out by the

Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards, or simply the FAMAS Awards, are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), an organization composed of writers and movie columnists, for achieveme ...

in his honor.

Politics

Salvador ran as Vice President under Modernist Party in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, but lost to

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

Personal life

Salvador fathered 97 children and reputedly had 48 women. Apart from Lou Salvador Jr., he also fathered the actors

Alona Alegre Maria Lourdes Jalandoni Salvador (January 1, 1948 – December 9, 2018), better known by her stage name Alona Alegre, was a Filipino film actress. Her parents were the stage impresario Lou Salvador and LVN actress Inday Jalandoni. She was am ...

, Leroy Salvador (director, producer and politician), the eldest of the Salvador siblings, Mina Aragon,

Phillip Salvador Phillip Mikael "Ipe" Reyes Salvador (born Felipe Reyes Salvador; August 21, 1953) is a Filipino film and television actor. Acting career Salvador made his film debut in 1971 with ''Adios Mi Amor''. He toiled in minor roles in Philippine movies ...

Ross Rival Rosauro Reyes Salvador (October 7, 1945 – November 16, 2007), known professionally as Ross Rival, was an actor and father of JonJon Hernandez, Joseph Salvador, Rosauro Luis G. Salvador, Luchi Salvador-Joson, Sahara Shyla G. Salvador and Ma ...

, Emil Salvador, and Jumbo Salvador. Jobelle Salvador and Deborah Sun (daughters of Leroy Salvador), Ethan Salvador (son of Emil Salvador), Joshua Aquino (son of Phillip Salvador and

Kris Aquino Kristina Bernadette Cojuangco Aquino (; born February 14, 1971) is a Filipino retired television presenter, actress, talent manager and film producer. She notably appeared as Princess Intan in the acclaimed '' Crazy Rich Asians'' and is a rec ...

), and

Maja Salvador Maja Ross Andres Salvador-Ortega (born October 5, 1988) is a Filipino actress and television personality. Known for portraying Strong female character, strong female leads in Revenge tragedy, revenge dramas in film and television, she has been ...

(daughter of Ross Rival) are his grandchildren. Analain Salvador and Ashton Salvador (grandchildren of

) are his great grandchildren. Singer Juan Miguel Salvador (father of actress

Janella Salvador Janella Maxine Desiderio Salvador (; born March 30, 1998) is a Filipino actress and singer. Debuting in the hit morning drama '' Be Careful with My Heart'' (2012–2014), she followed with lead roles in '' Oh My G!'' (2015), '' Born for You'' ...

) is the grandson of Lou Salvador's brother Pedro Salvador.

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salvador, Lou 1905 births 1973 deaths People from Tacloban Basketball players from Leyte (province) Male actors from Leyte (province) Filipino film producers Filipino men's basketball players Filipino people of German descent Filipino people of Spanish descent 20th-century Filipino male actors

Lou Lou may refer to: __NOTOC__ Personal name * Lou (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Lou (German singer) *Lou (French singer) * Lou (surname 娄), the 229th most common surname in China * Lou (surname 楼), the 269th most common ...

Visayan people JRU Heavy Bombers basketball players