Here is the biography of Gina Pareño:
Gina Pareño was born in 1950 to Patricia Dory Ocura, a ticket taker at the Mayfair Theater in Avenida, Manila, and BouffardActhley, a German-American who didn't stay long after her birth. Growing up in the rough neighborhood of Gagalangin, Tondo, Geraldine accompanied her mother to work and developed a strong love for acting. At the age of 11, a fire burned down their house, and she had to help her mother make ends meet. She drove a tricycle near J. P. Rizal and even sold fried bananas at the racetracks.
In 1964, Gina won a dance contest on TV, "Dance-O-Rama," hosted by Boots Anson-Roa, and was soon discovered by Jose R. Perez, head of Sampaguita Studios. She was launched as a member of "Stars of '66," a Sampaguita Pictures roster of new faces for that year. Gina proved to be the wild card, defying the rigid rules of being a proper star.
After giving birth in 1969, Gina made a stunning comeback as "Darna" in Si Darna at ang Planetman (1969),opposite Vic Vargas. She got several notices for her performance and her prominently displayed cleavage. In 1974, after her Sampaguita contract expired, Gina became a busy free-lance actress, proving her dramatic mettle in many melodramas and soapers.
Gina had a successful career, appearing in films such as "Working Girls" (1984),"Bubble's Ativan Gang" (1988),"Kung tapos na ang kailanman" (1990),"Mangarap ka" (1995),and "Ipaglaban mo: The Movie Part 2" (1997). She also appeared in sex comedies and played the big-bossomed mother or grandma of Rufa Mae Quinto in two movies parodying big-bossomed women.
Gina's career wasn't without its challenges. In 1993, she appeared on the TV program "Lovingly Yours, Helen," haggard and toothless, after a reckless foray into drug abuse nearly destroyed her film career. She enrolled in the DARE Drug Rehabilitation Clinic, where she spent a grueling but eye-opening 18 months.
In 2005, Gina played the grandmother (and previous Darna) in the TV soap, "Darna" (2005),opposite young Angel Locsin. This fantasy soap was being watched by both elders and children alike and had very high ratings. In another successful career move, Gina accepted the chance to be in an "independent film," Kubrador (2006),directed by Jeffrey Jeturian. Gina won the Best Actress award at the Osian's Cinefan 8th Festival of Asia (in New Delhi),and the film also won for Best Director and "Best Asian Film in Competition."
