Profile: Edu Manzano


Biography

Renowned for his seemingly deadpan attitude and dramatic range, he is an actor of great renown in the Philippines. He played the perfect villain and also showed quite a bit of a sense of humor, thus gaining him fame as a good game show host.
 
Edu Manzano is a Filipino actor, comedian, and politician. He was born on September 14, 1955 as Eduardo C. Manzano in San Francisco, California. During his youth, he had joined in the United States Military and served there for four years.

He was formerly married to actress and now governor of Batangas, Vilma Santos , for four years, which ended in a definite separation. They had a son, Luis Philippe Manzano , during their union. He is now the live-in partner of actress Rina Samson. He has a total of three children all in all, with Luis, Amanda Danielle, and Lorenzo.

His roles in movies were mostly of the villain, due to his disposition, dramatic ability, and his looks. He has shown in multiple occasions why he is a character that is easy to respect and hate at the same time in the roles that he has portrayed. He started his acting career during the late 70’s, and he still has not slowed down just yet. His last movie though was way back in 2003, concentrating more on his television career nowadays with game shows, soap operas, and sitcoms, but he is still on top of the market.

He had been successful in movies, but it is in television that made him a household name. He has garnered a reputation as the ideal game show host, which is a role that he has filled in many times in several different game shows. He also acts in different television shows in both drama and comedy. He has also been elected as president of Kapisanan ng mga Artista sa Pelikulang Pilipino, or KAPP for short, which is the Philippines’s actors’ guild, in 1995.

He is also active in politics, having been the vice mayor of Makati during the late 90’s. He is now the current chairman of the Optical Media Board, replacing Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. when he went on to run as a senator. Edu had considered running for senate himself during the 2007 Senatorial Elections, but he backed out despite the support of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, citing lack of funds as the reason for his retraction from the race.

Currently, he is the host of the game show “Pilipinas, Game KNB?” in which the former host, Kris Aquino, he indefinitely replaced until it was announced in June 2007 that he was to replace her permanently. He is also the host of the new game show “1 vs. 100,” as well as a host in the morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda.” He also had a role in the recently concluded soap opera “Walang Kapalit” as a strict adoptive father, and also roles in some recent sitcoms. All the shows he has recently taken part in are all on the TV station ABS-CBN 2.

Source:
http://www.celebritiesph.com/actors/filipino-actors/edu-manzano.html

Manzano entered politics in 1998 when he ran for Vice Mayor of Makati City. He garnered a majority of votes in the election, but his proclamation was suspended due to a case filed which alleged that he was not a citizen of the Philippines. The Comelec eventually ruled that he was indeed a Filipino citizen, clearing the way for his proclamation as Vice Mayor. Following a three-year term, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Makati City in 2001, losing to Jejomar Binay.
In 2004, Manzano became the first chairman of the Optical Media Board, a government agency tasked with combating optical media piracy. He resigned the position in August 2009.
On November 13, 2009, it was announced that Manzano will be Lakas-Kampi-CMD's candidate for Vice President in the May 2010 election, and the running mate of presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro.



Source: Wikipedia