Nida Blanca

Dorothy Acueza Jones was born Jan 6 1936, the only child of Inocencia Acueza and American national John William Jones II. She finished high school at the Adamson University and took up Pre-law at the University of Sto Tomas (UST). She has a daughter, Kay Torres, by estranged husband Victorino Torres. Blanca was only 13 when she joined an amateur singing contest in Manila.

She and Ms Gloria Romero are considered the most enduring movie queens in Filipino cinema, their careers spanning from the 1950s to 2006 (2003 for the murdered Ms Blanca).

Film star Delia Razon brought her to LVN matriarch Doña Sisang (Narcisa de Leon), who immediately cast her in Reyna Elena (1951).

This was followed by Amor mio (1951), her first film appearance opposite Nestor de Villa, costarring Armando Goyena. Since then, she has appeared in numerous films, in various genres, but mostly with de Villa as a romantic and dancing partner.

Ms Blanca early on in her durable career could easily switch from screwball comedy to drama, as in Babaing Hampas-Lupa (1952), Rosalina (1957) and Limang Dalangin (1958).

She won the very first Best Supporting Actress award from the Film Academy of Movie Arts & Sciences (FAMAS) for her role as a tragic Korean woman, Lee Ming, who falls in love with Filipino soldier Boni Serrano in the film Korea (1952).

See Tumbalik na Daigdig (1953), Hijo de familia (1953), Waray-Waray (1954), the film which popularized her tomboyish, knife-wielding, man-battling persona; Ikaw Kasi (1955), Talusaling (1955), Darling Ko (1955), Ganyan Ka Pala (1956), Handang Matodas (1956), Bahala Na (1956), Turista (1957) and Tingnan Natin (1957).

Still perpetuating her image as a tomboyish but lovable screwball, she also made Galawgaw (1956) opposite Jaime De La Rosa, who had earlier played leading man to her knife-wielding gamin in Batangueña (1953).

When LVN Studios stopped producing, Ms Blanca free-lanced, proving her mettle in a variety of films such as Shake, Baby, Shake (1966), Pag-Ibig, Masdan ang Ginawa Mo (1969), Forgive and Forget (1982), in which her popular love team with Nestor de Villa had a comeback, and My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1982), among many others. All in all, Ms Blanca made some 50 films with the dashing de Villa. Television proved to be very viable for Ms Blanca too. The "Nida-Nestor Show" and "John 'en' Marsha" became two of the longest-running sitcoms on Filipino television.

She also won the best supporting actress award at the Metro Manila Film Festival for Batu-Bato Sa Langit (1975); Best Actress awards simultaneously from Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP), Gawad Urian Awards and Catholic Mass Media Awards for Miguelito, Ang Batang Rebelde (1985); Best Supporting Actress awards from FAP and FAMAS for Magdusa Ka (1986); and Best Supporting Actress awards from FAP, FAMAS and CMMA for Kid, Huwag Kang Susuko (1987).

She was also twice winner of the Citizens' Award for Television (CAT) for Best Female TV Performer for the Nida-Nestor Show; and three-time winner of the Pambansang Akademya ng Telebisyon sa Agham at Sining (Patas) award in 1975, 1976 and 1978, as Most Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, for John 'en' Marsha.

In Fifty-Carats, O Di Ba? (1993), she shared top-billing with veterans Gloria Romero and the late Charito Solis. She also appeared in the television soap Mana-Mana. Ms Blanca has won 16 awards for her film work.

In 1997, she won Best Supporting Actress for Babae (1997), from the FAP and the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Two years later, still proving her timeless mettle, she won Best Actress at the FAMAS ceremonies for her work in Sana, Pag-Ibig Na (1998). She was top-billed for this film-- no mean feat, considering she was 62 years old.

In 2000 and 2002, the Gawad Urian Awards and the FAP, respectively, honored her with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Blanca was found bloody and lifeless in the trunk of her car in 2001. Her husband Rod Strunk was named as a person of interest. A man named Philip Medel was also one of the suspects. Strunk went back to the US in 2003, before charges could be filed against him. He jumped from the balcony of a California motel in 2007. Medel died later. Blanca's case remains unsolved.

In May 2003, American authorities arrested the husband of Ms Blanca, sometime actor/lounge singer Rod Lauren/Rod Strunk. Ms Blanca was murdered in November 2001. Mr Strunk has continuously denied the charge.

At the Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2009, she received the Cinema One Legend Award.