Gerardo de Leon

Director & actor · born 12 September 1913 · Manila, Philippines

Gerardo de León (September 12, 1913 - July 25, 1981) was a Filipino actor turned film director, who made his acting debut in the 1934 movie Ang Dangal.

De León, who was born as Gerardo Ilagan, was a member of the Ilagan clan of Philippine motion pictures, which includes Robert Arevalo, Liberty Ilagan and Ronaldo Valdez, and musical scorer Tito Arévalo. De León was a medical doctor by profession, but his ultimate love for film has won him over. He made eight more films as an actor before he became a director. He made his directorial debut in 1939's Bahay-Kubo, starring Fely Vallejo (who he later married). One of his unfinished projects was in the late Fernando Poe, Jr.'s Juan de la Cruz in 1972.

Where to start: Banaue: Stairway to the Sky (1975).