BY ALEX Y. VERGARA
The multi-awarded Jaclyn Jose, so far the only Filipino actor, male or female, to win a Cannes Best Actress award for her star turn in Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa, leaves behind daughter Andi Eigenmann and son Gwen Garimond Ilagan Guck.
Jaclyn Jose, it seemed, was always in a hurry. Barely four months after becoming a bonafide senior citizen at 60, the multi-awarded actress and mother of two died yesterday, March 3, in her home in Quezon City. The cause of her death has yet to be revealed by her family, including actress-daughter Andi Eigenmann, as of press time.
Born in Angeles City on Oct. 21, 1964, Jaclyn, or Mary Jane Guck in real life, was the second of six siblings. Her mother, Rosalind Santa Ana, was a zarzuela actress, while her father was an American serviceman then based at the now-defunct Clark Air Base.
Unlike most of her contemporaries, the Fil-Am beauty from Pampanga, younger sister of 1970s starlet Veronica Jones, didn’t have to wait years to be recognized for her exceptional acting talent. A year after she debuted on the big screen in 1984, one of her two starrers, Chito Roño’s Private Show, earned for her her first FAMAS nomination for Best Actress.
It was only a matter of time before she started winning a string of acting awards from some of the country’s most prestigious award-giving bodies such as the FAMAS, Urian and Luna. Of course, her biggest win yet was bagging Best Actress in 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as a smalltime drug dealer in Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa.
The feat made Jaclyn the only Filipino actor, male or female, to win at Cannes. Her other noteworthy acting feats included her first Urian Best Actress award for Takaw Tukso in 1986 and her first Luna Best Supporting Actress award in 1996 for The Flor Contemplacion Story.
When her film career started to fizzle out in the mid-1990s, Jaclyn started to transition, becoming a mainstay in some of the country’s top-rated soap operas produced by ABS-CBN and later GMA Network.
Like her star turn on the big screen, she made an impact on TV playing various meaty supporting and villain roles in such landmark TV productions as Familia Zaragoza, Mula sa Puso, Kahit Puso’y Masugatan, Valiente and several episodes of Maalala mo Kaya and Magpakailanman. She remained active in show business until her death.
Andi, 33, Jaclyn’s daughter with the late actor Mark Gil, also followed in her footsteps becoming an actress, model and social media influencer. Jaclyn’s second child, her son with The Dawn and Rivermaya guitarist Kenneth Ilagan, is 17-year-old Gwen Garimond Ilagan Guck.
