Actress. A Filipina starlet who got her start in silent films, she was perhaps her country’s leading movie sex kitten for a generation. Born to a family of wealth and position, she was drawn to the stage after attending a London performance of “Hamlet” at 17. Alma made her silver screen debut in the 1932 “Sa Pinto ng Langit” then went on to appearances in roughly 20 features including “Ama” (1936) and 1938’s “Ang Batang Tulisan”, along the way having a box office rivalry with the equally attractive Angelita Rey. Alma worked in France and Germany as well as in her native land, earned her final credit with the 1951 “Irog, Paalam”, and from the late 1940s on was a fixture of Manhattan high society. She became an American citizen in 1962, was a benefactor of various museums and galleries, was active in Republican politics, and died of the infirmities of advanced age. Excerpts from some of her performances have been preserved. (bio by: Bob Hufford)