THE interview of undisputed Comedy King Dolphy by Pia Guanio on GMA’s Showbiz Central is something that young stars should review. If someone would dare, that interview should be posted on YouTube.

One, it’s a delight to see how a show-biz icon, who is older than both viciously competing giant networks ABS-CBN and GMA, talking up his latest film. This time, it’s a dream project with another funny man, Vic Sotto.

We have missed Dolphy on the big screen. The last one he did, if memory serves us right, was a spoof on Titanic, James Cameron’s more expensive blockbuster. The Comedy King’s version was called Tatay Nic. It was probably ages ago. In fact, his costar Babalu has long been dead.

And on the subject of age, Dolphy will be celebrating his 80th birthday on July 25. He will be a certified octogenarian, an age that seems so hard to reach these days. How many artistas have reached that age, who are still up and doing what they love to do and seem to be getting younger every day?

In an interview for another show on GMA, the gag-a-thon Nuts Entertainment, one of his famous sons, Eric Quizon, said there will be a book about Dolphy to be launched on the said milestone birthday.

No matter how much that would cost, any film student or enthusiast—or just about any Filipino who values his heritage and culture—must get a copy of that book.

In fact, anything that has something to do with Dolphy must be preserved.

It would be best if the Dolphy biography would span several volumes.

Not surprisingly, Dolphy said he needed to delete some chapters and some sensitive details. He said in Filipino, “Many of them are resting in peace already. Let’s give them the peace they deserve. Or else they might haunt us.”

In his Showbiz Central interview, he told Guanio how on the set of their upcoming film (whose title still eludes us on account of gazillion revisions), he warned Vic Sotto about their pairing. In a scene where Dolphy and Sotto have a duet, Dolphy told the younger comedian, “Aren’t you afraid [of] having a duet with me? All partners I sang with are all dead now. They go ahead of me.”

On a more serious note, it’s no joke that Dolphy has outlived many of his peers. He mentioned how he survived World War II, serving the Japanese soldiers so as to have something to eat. He confessed how sad he was when his son, Dolphy Junior, was jailed for more than a decade. And, worse, when another son died.

We can’t recall who was the one who died but we’re sure he has about 18 children from more than five different women. All the children are grownups now. His eldest with Zsa Zsa Padilla, he revealed, is about to have her debut.

Still, despite the prolific, fruitful family tree he has created, Dolphy pointed out that when his children were younger, he made sure to have dinner with them at least once a week. And, more important, they all had equal financial support.  We are appalled by how today’s young actors—most of them with the word “heartthrob” flashing on their foreheads—have, at one point or another, denied their children from relationships outside marriage. Some of them actually still hide the identity of their various boys and girls from various parents.

Dolphy is turning 80. And he is still into it.

Filmmaking, that is. If there’s a formula for longevity—and we mean his life—there must be a lot of honesty in the mix.

Yes, it’s like a bombilya whose light never goes out even during brownouts, or during life’s darkest corners... er, moments.

‘They have their own families’

GABBY CONCEPCION said he spent quality time with his dad, Rollie, during Father’s Day. His reason was that all of his daughters naman “have their own families already, with their moms.”

It can be recalled that Gabby sired first-born daughters with Grace Ibuna and Jenny Syquia, besides Sharon Cuneta. All three women have moved on, made something of themselves and are happy with their lives.

Now, Gabby is married to Genevieve Yatco Gonzalez, with whom he has another daughter. In an earlier interview with the celebrity site Philippine Entertainment Portal, he revealed that his decision to go back to the Philippines and embrace show biz again was partly due to the suggestion of his current family.

Oh, well....

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