On the 18th of May 1990, at the star-studded
Ad of the Year Awards held at Hotel Nikko Manila, the Creative Guild of the
Philippines paid tribute to its very own--TESSIE
HERMOSA TOMAS—by according her a Hall of Fame award.
The former agency creative-turned-show biz star, Tessie Tomas (b.31 October 1950), was to showbiz born.
Her mother, Laura Hermosa was a famous radio personality, a much sought talent
who voiced classic radio serials as well as radio commercials during the
fledgling age of Philippine advertising.
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| 14 YEAR OLD TESSIE modeling for PALMOLIVE with mother LAURA HERMOSA |
Tomas finished Broadcast Communications at the University
of the Philippines and opted to follow a different path—advertising. She cut her teeth at Ace-Compton Advertising
and then moved to McCann –Erickson where the gifted copywriter wrote successful
campaigns for blue-chip client Johnson & Johnson products (Remember Johnson’s
Baby Powder--“Ikaw Lamang, Wala ng Iba” campaign).
Tomas rose quickly up the corporate ladder; she was sent
to London and New York for further training, and upon her return, she was named
as the creative head of McCann-Erickson, the first Filipina creative director.
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| TESSIE TOMAS, the first Filipina Creative Director of a multinational ad agency. |
But her showbiz genes impelled her to foray in stand-up comedy
even as she conceptualized campaigns and wrote product slogans. Tomas joined a
comedy troupe that included Subas Herero and Noel Trinidad (himself, an
ex-agency man) and started performing at a popular bistro in Magallanes,”The
Windmill”.
She introduced
whole brand of humor to a willing audience--more cerebral, less
slapstick, comedy that made funny commentaries on our social state, from the
perspective of unforgettable characters. Tomas took a jab at corrupt politicians,
and celebrated the resilience of Filipinos. Suddenly, Tomas became the talk of
the entertainment circuit!
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| CREATIVE GUILD OF THE PHILIPPINES CITATION |
In early 1983, she did the unthinkable--she resigned from her steady and stable corporate
job and decided to plunge headlong into the dizzying, dazzling world of
showbiz-- a world she was born in, and whose challenges she was now set to
embrace.
Her first one-woman show—“Miss Margarida’s Way”—featured
her as the demented, underpaid schoolmarm, which proved to be her first hit.
Like a true creative, Tomas wrote most of her material, and created alter egos
like social worker Charito Calubaquib, Boni Buendia “da bold star”, sex
therapist Natassia Kinky, Saudi wife Mimay Timtiman, Japanese geisha Sakura
Bitsu-Bitsu, Princess of Leyte Gulf Lady ‘Day, and Miriam Defensor
Saanmanmagtago.
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| TESSIE TOMAS WITH CHAMPOY GANG, 1984 |
When she joined the hit comedy show “Champoy”, Tomas introduced
the wacky umbrella-wielding weather girl “Amanda Pineda” who made dire
observations about our social conditions under a repressive government, with her
fearful forecasts for the nation, sugar-coated with her brand of
seemingly-innocent humor and catchy punchlines.
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| TESSIE TOMAS as MELDITA |
But her most famous perosna was “Meldita”, a deluded,
larger-than-life take on the First Lady.
Each staging exposed Rizal Theater SRO crowds to the lurid madness that was
Malacanang: from Meldita’s stormy
relationships with Macoy and rebel child Imee, her royal fantasies, her
obsessive-compulsive drive to make the Philippines great again. But it was also
a story about finding fulfillment and acceptance by all means and at all costs,
which Meldita always sought but never gained.
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| HAKONE SARDINES AD,as Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu 1989 |
Tomas not only received
accolades for her tour-de-force performance, but also death threats. But she
couldn’t care less; it was her craft that spurred her on--her pioneering
one-woman shows had given her the avenue.
It was just a matter of time that movie producers saw her
talent. From the stage to the screen, Tomas proved to be an equally effective
performer. Her first film was “Broken Marriage” in 1983.
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| TESSIE TOMAS MODELLING FOR CHIZ WHIZ, channeling Barbara Tengco, 1993 |
Then in 1987, she was cast in the international TV series
“A Dangerous Life” based on the dying moments of the Marcos regime, where she
bagged the coveted role of—who else?—Imelda Marcos. For this, she won an HBO
Best Actress nomination.
She found another groove on television by becoming a TV
host. For six years, Tomas hosted the popular morning talk show, “Teysi ng
Tahanan”. At the same time, she was in the cast of the highly-acclaimed “Abangan
ang Susunod na Kabanata” as the rich, but paranoidal Barbara Tengco. Her other critically-received movies
include “Separada” (she wrote the screenplay) “Ploning” and “100”.
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| THE MANY FACES OF TESSIE TOMAS |
Happily married to marine biologist, British Roger
Pullin, Tessie Tomas is also a mother of an artist, U.S.-based deigner Robin Tomas. After
playing a supporting role in the ABS-CBN soap opera The Blood Sisters, Tomas and
her husband moved to the Isle of Man where the family is now quietly and happily
settled.
