Sharon Cuneta Filipino Actress and Singer From Manila

Early life

Sharon Cuneta was born on 6 January 1966 in Manila. Music was part of her childhood: she took piano, guitar and flute lessons, and her mother had studied piano at the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. At the age of three she began accompanying her aunt, the actress Helen Gamboa, to recording sessions for television programmes, and she later appeared in children's segments on variety shows, imitating her aunt's songs.

Career

Cuneta entered the recording industry in January 1978, when she was twelve and recorded "Tawag ng Pag-ibig" for Vicor Records. A few months later she released "Mr. DJ", a song written by Rey Valera and aimed at radio disc jockeys, who gave her the nickname "DJ's Pet". The song earned her a first gold record and led to further albums and singles from the Manila Sound period, among them "High School Life" in 1980. She also co-hosted the variety programme C.U.T.E. with her aunt on IBC 13.

Her move into film came after a 1980 festival appearance in Cebu to promote a theme song she had recorded. The director Danny Zialcita offered her a role, and she starred in Dear Heart (1981) opposite Gabby Concepcion. A sequel, P.S. I Love You, became the first release of Viva Films in November 1981. Through the mid-1980s she led a run of box-office hits, including Bukas Luluhod ang Mga Tala (1984) and Bituing Walang Ningning (1985). The press began calling her the "Megastar" in 1985, a title that stayed with her.

Television followed. The Sharon Cuneta Show premiered on IBC in September 1986 and moved to ABS-CBN in March 1988; it became one of the longest-running musical-variety programmes in the Philippines. In 1988 she became the first Filipina artist to sell out the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium, and she did so again in 2005.

Her 1990s film work included Kahit Konting Pagtingin (1990), Maging Sino Ka Man (1991) and Madrasta (1996). Madrasta, made for Star Cinema, was her first film outside Viva, and it brought her best actress awards from the major Philippine award bodies. She released the studio album Isn't It Romantic in 2006, returned to cinema in Caregiver (2008), and starred in BFF: Best Friends Forever and Mano Po 6: A Mother's Love in 2009. For the latter she received a best actress citation at the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival. Her 2003 film Crying Ladies is among her other screen credits.

In November 2011 she left ABS-CBN, her network of 23 years, and signed with TV5, where she hosted talk and variety shows and starred in the comedy series Madam Chairman (2013). She ended the contract early in 2014 and rejoined ABS-CBN in 2015, working as a judge on Your Face Sounds Familiar and as a coach on The Voice Kids and The Voice Teens. Later credits include Kuwaresma (2019), Saving Grace and Family of Two (2023).

Recognition

Cuneta's honours include three FAMAS Awards, a Gawad Urian Award, three PMPC Star Awards for Movies, two Luna Awards and nineteen Box Office Entertainment Awards. In 2004 she was the first person in the arts and movies category to receive The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award. She was the first recipient of the Myx Magna Award in 2006, received the Dolphy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Screen Awards in 2015, was named a History Maker by A+E Networks Asia in 2018, and was the first recipient of the Viva Icon Award in 2019. She was also honoured with the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan for cinema by the City of Manila in 2002.

Personal life

Cuneta married the actor Gabby Concepcion in September 1984. Their daughter, the actress KC Concepcion, was born in April 1985. The couple legally separated in 1987, and the marriage was annulled in 1993. In 1996 she married Pangilinan, a politician she had met during the taping of a television programme. The family moved to Boston the following year, where she completed a business degree while her husband pursued postgraduate studies.