Tony Mabesa Death at 84 After Being Confined

There are just so many stories to tell about Tony Mabesa. For those who are not in theater, he's definitely still a familiar face, having appeared in countless television shows and movies in supporting roles most often in the legal or medical profession. His biggest win was as a Best Supporting Actor in the 44th MMFF for the critically acclaimed Rainbow's Sunset.

Ironically, his partner in the film, Eddie Garcia, also a veteran thespian passed away early this year. As of writing, Mabesa's cause of death is not known yet. According to one if his firmer students, he got hospitalized for pneumonia last October 2 and since he prefers not to have visitors, he kept it a secret. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack yesterday but was still conscious until he suddenly passed on. Prior to his confinement, he has an active lifestyle and was in the middle of rehearsing Fuente Ovejuna, a new play he is directing for Dulaang UP which opens this November.

In the theater world, Mabesa is a legend. He is a kingmaker. Many would attest to being "Tony Mabesa babies" and even though it's very challenging, those who survived the Herculean trials were like super saiyans as a result. They can conquer a lot of things. Ask Candy Pangilinan, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Irma Adlawan, Chris Martinez, Eugene Domingo, Neil Ryan Sese, Angelina Kanapi

His favorite pieces are Shakesperean materials and other English classics. He wasn't born into a rich family. Born in 1935, this Los Banos, Laguna native would find himself directing his first play in UP Rural High School thanks to his English teacher. He went on to study theater abroad as scholar and also got mentored by National Artist Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero. Aside from DUP, he also founded UPPT, the latter dedicated to producing and staging original Filipino productions.

He would have gone on to possibly become a pop culture icon as well, with his appearance in a Manila Wrestling Federation video as the old version of Mr. Lucha.

Aside from his booming voice or the image of him religiously taking his pet chow chow for a walk at the UP Academic Oval, most people would miss his genuine kindness underneath that ironclad exterior, and the priceless knowledge he has passed on to future generations which has imnortalized him.