Berting Labra


Berting Labra was a Filipino veteran actor equally adept in comedy and drama, in action flicks and musicals.......

Personal life and career

Labra starred in Apat na Taga in 1953. He was a child star who shared the screen with Fernando Poe Sr. in several films, including Palaboy ng Tadhana, Sagur, Kanto Boy, and Alimudin.
He was only six-years-old when he made his stage debut. He was discovered by Fernando Poe Sr. when he was looking for a child actor who could sing in movies.
Labra also witnessed the murder of his father, Francisco Labra, former bantamweight and featherweight champion of the Orient, at the hands of Japanese soldiers. "He was tortured," Labra told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a 2005 interview.
The elder Poe became the ten-year-old's foster father.
Five years after the elder Poe's death, Labra, then a teenager, teamed up with Fernando Poe Jr. in the 1956 box-office hit Lo' Waist Gang, a film that spawned a string of other movies. It resulted in a lifelong friendship with "Da King."
In 1969, Labra and fellow action star Eddie Fernandez were jailed for murder. Labra spent 13 years in Muntinlupa, only to be exonerated by the Supreme Court.
On December 25, 1982, the film The Cute... The Sexy n' The Tiny premiered. Labra played one of the leads.
Labra appeared in the 1991 action film Manong Gang with actor Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. alongside Dina Bonevie, Paquito Diaz and Max Alvarado. Labra's last film, the 2007 comedy M.O.N.A.Y ni Mr. Shooli, co-starred actor Leo Martinez.

Death

Labra died on February 10, 2009, due to heart attack. He was 75-years-old. Labra's remains were buried in the Garden of Memories in Pateros.

Awards

Trivia