ShareThisDon’t write off Gabby Concepcion yet.
The long-time San Francisco resident has a savior and she is no less than top producer Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Films.
It was Mother Lily who actually discovered Gabby and gave him the first breaks.
The Regal Films owner said she wants to help Gabby again.
“Gabby remains to be one of our best leading men and screen heartthrobs ever,” she said.
The top movie producer said she is now thinking of casting him in one of her three Metro Manila film festival entries, maybe in “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
Gabby was married to mega star Sharon Cuneta, his co-star in several movies, in a well attending wedding at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.
No less than President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos were there together with top personalities who stood as sponsors of the daughter of the late long-time Pasay City mayor Pablo Cuneta.
After having a daughter, their relationship soured when it was discovered that he was still married to another woman when he contracted marriage with Sharon.
The sour relationship ended with Sharon hailing husband to court for falsification of public documents in connection with their marriage records and others.
When it became clear that he would not be able to escape the charges, Gabby fled to California, eventually re-married there and worked there, the latest being as a realtor.
Gabby worked hard to get his license as a realtor and enjoyed the business with the real estate boom in California.
When there was a slump in real estate due to financial crisis, Gabby decided to try his luck again in Philippine movies and got back in Manila.
There was a big fuss when he came home more than three years ago.
Film and television companies competed to get him, thus, he even abandoned his manager and producer Rose Flaminiano who was instrumental in bringing him back to Manila, spending so much in the process.
Gabby’s relationship with Flaminiano even ended in court when the producer and manager sued him for violation of their contract.
Gabby also got entangled in a legal war with two companies who got him as a product endorser.
It turned out, the project the actor got involved with did not hit it big as people had expected. His movie with his own daughter KC Concepcion, “I’ll Be There”, and the horror flick he did with Regal, “White House,” did not fare well in the box office.
But he has a saving grace in the movie “I Love You Goodbye” with Angelica Panganiban because it did well at the tills.
And now, he seems to have gone back to oblivion, according to no less than showbiz authority and columnist Mario Bautista.
Showbiz folk say Gabby’s last card maybe is a movie that will reunite him with his ex-wife Sharon Cuneta. The Sharon-Gabby love team was really a big hit in the past.
Is this the movie Mother Lily is thinking to ressurect Gabby’s fortunes later?
Meanwhile, Mother Lily is reportedly thinking of filing a case against actress Carla Abellana.
The case is reportedly triggered by the failure of her manager, Arnold Vegafria, to do the remake of the movie “Asyong Salonga” without the permission of Mother Lily when she was still a contract star of Regal Films.
What can she say about Mother Lily’s threat?
“Naku, misunderstanding lang ‘yan na maaayos sa mabuting usapan,” she said.