Biography

Elsa Oria

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Born
March 5, 1918 · Samar, Philippines
Died
December 29, 1995 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Nicknames
- Singing Sweetheart of the Philippines
- Philippines' singing nightingale

Elsa Oria is a Filipino movie actress during the pre-war period. She was dubbed as the "Singing Sweetheart of the Philippines." Oria was born 5 March 1916 at Laoang, Northern Samar. She is the daughter of Tomas Oria and Mercedes Rineo. She finished the music course in the department of conservatory of music at the University of Santo Tomas. Oria first starred in a 1936 movie "Awit ng mga Ulila" alongside Tita Duran and Amando Crisostomo. She, together with the King of Philippine Movies Rogelio de la Rosa, starred in a Sampaguita Pictures' first full-length film [Nicanor Ablardo]'s "Bituing Marikit" in 1938. She has piloted to several musicals including "Paruparong Bukid" (also known as "Paroparong Bukid"), "Inday", "Nasaan Ka Irog", and "Ikaw Rin." Oria was paired to several movie stars including Leopoldo Salcedo, Ely Ramos, and Rudy Concepcion. In her retirement from the movies in 1947, Oria made 13 movies in over 11-year stretch, with five of them with Sampaguita Pictures, and two with LVN. The movie singer-actress often regarded in comparison to America's Jeanette McDonald. Oria married Elwood Kelly Eastman. She died on 28 December 1995 at Los Angeles, USA.
- IMDb mini biography by: BGP

It is a pity that no movies or even short clips of pre-war star Elsa Oria ever existed where we can watch her act, dance and sing. Ms. Oria, dubbed as the singing sweetheart of the Philippines, was a box-office queen during her time and most of her movies were sensational hits. She was also known as the "Jeanette McDonald" of Philippine movies and best remembered in musical hit movies like" Nasaan Ka Irog", "Bituing Marikit" and" Madaling Araw".

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