Anita Linda(1924-2020)
- Actress
Anita Linda was born Alice Buenaflor Lake in
Pasay City, Manila, Philippines. Her parents were
James Lake, an American mining engineer, and Gorgonia Buenaflor of
Iloilo. She married actor Fred Cortes, with
whom she has a son, actor
Fred Cortes Jr.. She attended Polo
Elementary School and graduated from Good Shepherd Convent High School.
Before WWII, while watching a stage show at the Avenue Theater starring
Leopoldo Salcedo,
Lopito, among others, Alice, then a teenager
remembers being called backstage by director
Lamberto V. Avellana and being
asked if she wanted to become an actress. There must have been
something in her that the renowned director saw as she sat
watching the show. She demurred that being Visayan she couldn't speak
Tagalog. The director, nevertheless, told her to report for rehearsals
for the next show and when she didn't appear had her fetched. This is
how she became a stage actress and later a movie actress.
