Senti Sunday Specials 2: The Golden Melanie Marquez

Mimilanie ‘Melanie’ Laurel Marquez remains as one of the most memorable international pageant winners of the Philippines. And for many reasons at that.

For starters, her Miss International 1979 victory came as a truly pleasant surprise. I remember sitting inside the family van on our way to Manila, unmindful of the fact that the finals of the beauty competition in Japan was completed a night before. Out of the blue, my mom – who does not show much interest in such contests – nonchalantly asked, “did you know that we won Miss International?“

I jumped right out of my seat in excitement. Here is a girl who – despite her “long-legged” height and exotic features – was not given much of a winning hype by media and practically dismissed as a possible ‘thank-you-girl’ abroad. So when news about her victory started to spread like wildfire, it was just a matter of time before the whole nation went crazy over the country’s 3rd Miss International at the time.

But before Melanie became such a popular beauty queen and celebrity, she was actually a gangly teenager from Pampanga plucked out of anonymity and polished into a fashion model by Renee Salud. She was fielded in Bb. Pilipinas 1979 as a candidate even if she was only a 15 year-old who could pass off as an adult.

The minute she completed her obligations to BPCI and IBC, she immediately opened the door to a career in movies and television. In fact, she was launched via a title role in the 1980 comedy flick “Agatona” directed by her late father Artemio ‘Temyong‘ Marquez. Of course, she was still at her most awkward then on the big screen. But through the years, she managed to sustain her presence in the industry. Why, she even won two awards (Best Actress and Best Story) during the 1987 Metro Manila Film Festival for “The Untold Story of Melanie Marquez”.

And who could forget her widely-publicized relationship with action star Lito Lapid? It was the kind of romance stuff that differed from the run-of-the-mill loveteams and publicity-generated love affairs. It was pure, for real if you will. But when time came for their togetherness to end, she moved on without a lot of fuss.

Six children and four marriages later, Melanie remained standing up and undaunted by all the rollercoaster parallelisms of her personal life.

She is even planning to come up with a book that would include her (in)famous ‘Melanisms’. She was never affected by people throwing endless criticisms at her constant mangling of the English language.

Now at 50 (she turned golden last July 16), Melanie (still happily married to American ranch owner Adam Lawyer) is still in top fighting form – a doting mother, a loving wife, a delightful gay icon, a ‘raw‘ beauty contestant’s role model, a competent TV comedienne and an all-around likeable personality anybody would love to spend time with and appreciate the company of.

Watch the video below of a tribute to the Eternal Melanie Marquez.

courtesy of Beautyq Tribute