Angelu De Leon

Maria Luisa Angela Martinez de Leon-Rivera (born August 22, 1979, in Manila, Philippines), more famously known as Angelu de Leon, is a television and film actress in the Philippines. --- Angelu de Leon is the youngest daughter of Luis and Flora de Leon. She attended St. Joseph's College, Holy Spirit and Siena College. She made her first commercial, without her father's knowledge, when she was just ten years old. Her father eventually gave his blessing to her acting career before his death from colon cancer. De Leon started television acting at the age of 12. She was discovered by Johnny Manahan for a kiddie gag show Ang TV aired over ABS-CBN. She shared screen time with Claudine Barretto, Jolina Magdangal, and Rica Peralejo. After about a year on Ang TV, she signed up with Viva Films and transferred to GMA Network to do a sitcom called Ober Da Bakod with Janno Gibbs and Anjo Yllana. De Leon also joined the movies, where she mostly played younger sister to more established stars. Among her early roles were appearances in Sharon Cuneta's Di na natuto; with Ana Roces, Vina Morales, and Donna Cruzin Kadenang Bulaklak; opposite Mikee Cojuangco in Forever, with Robin Padilla in P're Hanggang Sa Huli; and opposite Alice Dixson in Okey Si Ma'am. In 1995 de Leon got her break when she was included in teen oriented shows like T.G.I.S. (Thank God It's Sabado) and Growing Up with Onemig Bondoc, Ciara Sotto, Raven Villanueva, Michael Flores, Rica Peralejo, and Red Sternberg. These shows gave her a chance to team up with Bobby Andrews, and their partnership became one of the hottest onscreen love teams of her generation in the mid-1990s. Among the noted Angelu-Bobby team-up movies were: Silaw, Takot Ka Ba Sa Dilim, TGIS The Movie, Laging Naroon Ka, and Wala Na Bang Pag-ibig, as well as their first teleseries Ikaw Na Sana, which was also turned into a movie. In the early part of 1998 at the peak of her career, de Leon became pregnant by action star Joko Diaz. As a result, she had to go on maternity leave while the projects she had lined up got shelved or were passed on to other young stars. Despite being a young mother, she managed to come back from the career slump and accept mature roles assigned to her by Viva. She was on her way back to lead star status when she got pregnant again in the year 2001 by businessman Jojo Manlongat. De Leon has also shown her acting prowess in numerous movies and drama series. Among her appearances have been: Ikaw Na Sana (with Bobby Andrews and Gladys Reyes), Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga (with Dingdong Dantes and Tanya Garcia), Ang Lahat Ng Ito'y Para Sayo (with Andrews), May Bukas Pa (1999 TV series) (with Dina Bonnevie and Cherie Gil), Abandonada (with Maricel Soriano and Edu Manzano), Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita (with Judy Ann Santos) and Paupahan (with Snooky Serna and Gloria Romero).