324. Hollywood Actor JACK PALANCE for LA TONDEÑA NATURAL RUM, 1967

Hollywood star JACK PALANCE, for LA TONDEÑA NATURAL RUM, 1967

Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Palahniuk  18 bFe. 1919/ d. 10 Nov. 2006) was a famous American male star famous for his rugged look that made him perfect for tough guy and villain roles. His distinctive character face were allegedly due to a botched reconstructive surgery, which has since been disproven as nothing more than a PR stunt. 

JACK PALANCE, Source: wikimedia commons

Palance was nominated for three Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Academy Awards: “Sudden Fear”(1952) and “Shane” (1953). His third nomination in 1991 for “City Slickers” finally won him the coveted Oscar statuette. 

JACK PALANCE says of  La Tondens'a Natural Rum: "One of the finest I ever tasted!

In 1997 though, after completing the production of the  action movie “Kill a Dragon” in Hong Kong and Macau with Fernando Lamas, Palance dropped by in the Philippines to promote the said movi--and to appear in a print ad for LA TONDEÑA Natural Rum, “I’m taking it back to the States with me!”, says the headline, in reference to the drink that he discovered and enjoyed in the Philippines. 

JACK PALANCE, Oscar's  Best Supporting Actor for 1992, "City Slickers"
Photo: pinterest

In the 1960s, commercial endorsements of Hollywood stars for Philippine products are few and far between—the actress Joan Page did a cosmetic ad, but then she was based here for 4 years. It would take close to 4 decades for another Hollywood action star to promote a Filipino brand—Steven Seagal for Tanduay Gold in the late 1990s created by Jimenez DMB&B.

 As for Jack Palance, he found greater fame in the 80s as the host of the television revival of Ripley's Believe It or Not!. On ABC. The series  ran from 1982 to 1986 and also starred Palance's daughter Holly Palance. This led to a renaissance in his career, capped by an Oscar-winning performance in the comedy “City Slickers”,  at age 73. His acceptance speech included Palance demonstrating a one-armed push-up, which the audience lapped up and loved.

242. ARMANDO GOYENA for RUM CAÑA by Tabacalera, 1953

Tabacalera (Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas) was established as a cigar and tobacco factory by Antonio Lopez y Lopez, the Marquis of Comillas way back in 1881. It was put up right after the end of the tobacco monopoly.

Cigar-smoking then was a time-honored recreation for many Filipinos, and puffers often paired smoking with sipping liquor to heighten their smoking pleasure. 

Hence, Tabacalera branched out into the manufacture of liquor, and by the mid-twentieth century, it had the largest distillery in the Philippines churning out 40,000 liters of alcohol daily.

RUM CAÑA was one such successful product that came from their factory. Rum was a very popular mass drink, as it was very affordable, and Tabacalera’s RUM CAÑA became the choice of the country, and, in the 1950 decade, enjoyed a reputation as the Philippines’ best-selling rum.

RUM CAÑA was advertised during the 50s with famous star Armando Goyena as an endorser.  In real life, he was Jose “Pinggoy” Teodoro Iruyetagoyena Revilla Jr. (b. 7 Dec. 1922 / d. 9 Mar. 2011), who came from a well-off family and was a student of La Salle when he was discovered by Dna. Sisang de Leon for the movies  

He was introduced in “Puting Bantayog” (1948), that would pair him with Tessie Quintana. Goyena would shoot to stardom in 1952 with the superhero film “Kapitan Kidlat”, opposite Evelyn Villar.  His status as a major film star was cemented with “Hawayana”, which also catapulted the Goyena-Quintana love team to showbiz fame.

The film “Hawayana” , a 15^th anniversary offering of LVN Pictures, was shot in color, a rarity in the 50s, and was directed by Manuel Silos. The RUM CAÑA series capitalized on the huge following of Goyena, and the appearance of the print ads were timed to coincide with the movie’s national screening in June 1953. 

In 1958, Goyena married the prominent beauty Paquita Roces, herself a top commercial model known as the first Camay Girl. The couple had 8 children: Maritess, Tina, Johnny, Ces, Pita, Rossi, Malu, and Cita and 29 grandchildren, many of whom also joined showbiz.

He put behind his acting career after his marriage, reappearing only in 1995 as Don Eugenio López in Chito Roño’s “Eskapo”. Roño cast him again in 2001 for “Yamashita: The Tiger's Treasure”, for which he won that year’s FAMAS Best Supporting Actor award. His last appearance was in “Annie B.” in 2004, before his death age 88 in 2011.

As to the product Goyena endorsed, Tabacalera’s products were acquired by La Tondeña beginning in 1955, with Añejo Rum. The liquor giant had earlier bought Ayala Distillery in 1924. RUM CAÑA today, no longer exists, but La Tondeña continues to manufacture and sell a similar rum product with the brand name  “Flor De Caña Anejo Oro Rum”.

212: Is That Who I Think He Is? ANTHONY N. VILLANUEVA for TONDEÑA RUM (1966) and TERYLENE (1967)

CELEBRATED BOXER ANTHONY VILLANUEVA. Highest-placed Filipino Olympian, 1964

BOY BOXER, Anthony Villanueva

The 19 year old boxer who became a household name in 1964 with his triumph at the Tokyo Olympics was born Anthony N. Villanueva (b. 18 March 1945)  to an Olympian father, Cely Villanueva, a bronze medallist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

His pugilist father influenced his interest in boxing, so much so that at an early age, he became an accomplished athlete. 

Boxing aficionado and businessman Eugenio Puyat saw his potential and supported him, such that by 1962, at age 17, the FEU teen became a national boxing titlist.

This qualified him to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where he competed in the Featherweight Division, where he defeated boxers from Italy, Tunisia, Poland and the U.S. before facing the Russian  Stanislav Stepashkin in the finals. In the controversial Gold medal match, Villanueva lost 3 to 2.

Nevertheless, Villanueva came home to a hero’s welcome—the highest-placed athlete in Philippine Olympic history. Showbiz beckoned, and Villanueva starred in at least 5 action movies, including the boxing-inspired “Malakas, Kaliwa't Kanan” with Nida Blanca and the bio-flick, “The Pancho Villa Story”.

 

VILLANUEVA AND STEPASHKIN in the controversial finals.

As he lost his amateur status due to his lucrative acting career, Villanueva turned professional in 1965, debuting in a fund-raising event called “Fiesta Fistiana” at the Araneta Coliseum, matched against the Japanese, Shigeo Nirasawa. He would hang his boxing gloves after only 5 bouts.

Capitalizing on his Olympic fame, advertisers sought out the acclaimed boxer, who signed up with two clients.

 

VILLANUEVA FOR TONDENA RUM, 1966

For La Tondeña, Villanueva did an ad for TONDEÑA NATURAL RUM in 1966. The B&W print ad featured a close-up photo of the boxer, holding a glass of “smooth as velvet” TONDEÑA RUM.

Villanueva also appeared in a TERYLENE ad that was part of  a campaign series. TERYLENE, a fabric perfect for suits, was a revolutionary clothing material made of a combination of viscose rayon and terylene. The thematic ad series featured active men in heroic James Bond roles, coming to damsel in distress, unmasking enemies, delivering karate chops—that tests the fabric for durability, comfort and strength.  

 

VILLANUEVA POSING FOR A TERYLENE AD,1967

Villanueva’s version shows him as a travelling photographer, smartly dressed in a suit—“so neat, so masculine, so elegant”-- flitting to and fro to his shooting assignments.

When his boxing and acting days were over, Villanueva became a boxing coach, until 1976, when he decided to go find his future in the U.S.  

SOURCES:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/15/14/villanuevas-death-puts-spotlight-poor-retired-athletes