Fritz Ynfante’s death early this week inspired The Butcher to look back at the glorious years of Philippine television. It was a period that started from the mid-1960s and ended in the latter part of the 1980s — traversing even through the martial law years.
Local television had the best shows during that era and behind those programs were the creative minds of some of the greatest Filipino TV directors. Except for Johnny Manahan, the present generation — and even the previous one — wouldn’t know anymore the geniuses who crafted those shows.
Maybe now is a good time to introduce — re-introduce? — those great directors to the youth of today. Never mind if they are all already into social media. Before television finally signs off (it is a dying industry, after all), let us all hark back to TV’s magnificent years and remember those great names behind those equally great programs.
Al Quinn
There’s only one word to describe the special events of the 1980s till the 1990s: Spectacular. Special events were awards programs and beauty pageants. Al Quinn directed some of the most impressive specials in those days.
Born Alcuin Pastrano, he started out as a dancer. His talent for dancing helped him mount some of the greatest shows this side of the region — from Binibining Pilipinas to the Star Awards and Gawad Urian, plus so many other specials in between.
Every production has its own official choreographer — usually either Maribeth Bichara or Geleen Eugenio. But his creative juices would always spill out during rehearsals and he’d end up doing the choreography for some dance numbers.
Quinn was given the best stage for training: Vaudeville — at the Manila Grand Opera House. It was also there that he honed his skills at choreography.
In time, he joined the movies as a dancer, choreographer and even as an actor. He married actress Lani Oteyza (real name: Elizabeth Barnes), but they eventually separated.
It didn’t take long for Quinn to join television. Special events were his forte. All his shows were grand. He was also meticulous with every detail and requires all participants to rehearse, rehearse and rehearse some more.
Oh, he had a temper. One time, during dress rehearsals at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), he totally lost it. He asked for lights. When the lights didn’t come in a flash as he had ordered, he shouted in a thunderous voice: “Lights! I Said Lights!!!”
I don’t know if it was just my hyperactive imagination or did I actually see a bolt of lightning hit the CCP Main Theater? But after he had let it all out, there he was — choreographing the dance number even if his main job was to direct and not choreograph.
Quinn also studied Fine Arts and actually painted. He always put together a show from an artist’s perspective and this was the reason why his specials were always the most creative.
In his late 70s, he decided to retire and migrate to the US with his second wife, Beth Bolanos. The indie actor Dino Pastrano is their son. In 2020, Al Quinn was among the Covid-19 victims. He died in Las Vegas at age 86.
Mitos Villareal
A graduate of the Columbia School for Television, Mitos Villareal was known for always bringing the latest innovation and technology to Philippine TV. But her expertise was lighting the stars and the set.
Mitos could turn a frog into a prince with the magic of her lighting. No kiss needed from some Disney princess. Even a pimple disappeared, thanks to her play of light and shadow.
In the 1960s, Mitos directed ABS-CBN’s most prestigious program, An Evening With Pilita. For a time, she wasn’t only directing the show. She also appeared in it — as part of the singing trio Lemons Three that also included Nikki Ross and Katy de la Cruz’ daughter, Angie Yoingco.
Mitos also handled other ABS-CBN programs: That Young Image (with Jeanne Young), Stop, Look & Listen and Marlene Dauden’s drama anthology Panagimpan. An older generation should still remember her directing Spin-A-Win.
At the height of the EDSA revolt in 1986, Mitos got on a helicopter and took that now iconic aerial shot of the people power revolution. Those images were the result of creativity and patriotism.
After EDSA I, Mitos focused on producing and directing special events — like the FAMAS, for instance. She died of a heart attack in 1995.
Bert de Leon
Born Lamberto de Leon, he did on-cam work early in his career. In the gag show Dos por Dos (with Mitch Valdes and the APO), he was the beefcake guy, while June Rufino was the cheesecake girl.
But he learned directing for TV eventually. De Leon was the first director of Eat Bulaga. His other notable programs were Ok Ka, Fairy Ko, The Sharon Cuneta Show, Iskul Bukol, Bubble Gang and Pepito Manaloto.
In 2021, his health declined. During his hospital confinement, De Leon contracted Covid and died at the age of 74.
Fritz Ynfante
He was known to be a “terror” on the set. But Fritz Ynfante was simply a perfectionist, who insisted on always getting the best out of his talent.
After finishing his studies at the UCLA in 1967, Fritz first joined the advertising world by working for J. Walter Thompson. He was assigned to do product launches and his works proved to be impressive.
His reputation as a good director was what prompted ABS-CBN to snatch him away from advertising. At ABS-CBN, one of his duties was to handle the “promo girls” who did live product endorsements during station breaks. Back then, only the beautiful and the well-bred were invited to be promo girls. Among them were Boots Anson, first Miss Caltex winner Elsa Payumo, Maggie de la Riva, Gigi Javier (now a Manunuri and head of TVUP), Coney Nubla, who became Coney Reyes when she joined showbiz and Fernandita “Fenny” Cantero, who later became Mrs. Francisco Tatad.
Fritz was later made to direct variety programs and special events. One show he handled was a huge Vicor project in 1976. It starred Rico J. Puno and that was the first time a singer was launched into the big league via a musical special. Another memorable special he made in the early 1980s was This Girl, Pilar that featured Pilar Pilapil. It borrowed the title of the actress-singer’s ABS-CBN weekly musical show in the 1970s.
Fritz was able to hold his temper in his later years, especially when he shifted to acting — maybe because the pressure of holding a show together was taken off him. The movies he did were with Vic Sotto: Dobol Trobol and Enteng ng Ina Mo.
Prior to the pandemic, Fritz’s health was still in tip-top shape. But he needed his cataracts removed.
Last Monday, he said goodbye for good. He was 84.