Lydia Cuntapay, or more widely known as “Queen of Horror of Philippine Movies” Lilia Cuntapay passed away on Saturday, August 20, 6 AM in his son Gilmore Cuntapay’s house.
Granddaughter Elma Cuntapay-Daet confirmed her death to ABS-CBN News due to sickness.
Lilia Cuntapay often played bit roles like witches, ghosts, or aswangs in several classic Filipino horror movies and TV series throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s.
Cuntapay first taught in primary schools in Tuguegarao before engaging in a buy-and-sell business – and later on, working at the National Police Commission (Napolcom). During this time, she started as ‘extra’ in movies, with her breakthrough role that of Kris Aquino’s nanny in “Shake, Rattle and Roll 3” directed by Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes. One year later, Gallaga and Reyes cast her as an old aswang in their film “Aswang.”
Cuntapay retired from the Napolcom at 40 years old to pursued full-time acting.
Early this month, it was revealed that the actress has stopped working due to a spinal cord condition that has rendered her disabled and unable to walk.
A Facebook video was posted by the Cagayan Provincial Information Office that shows Cuntapay appealing for financial assistance for her medical needs. The blockbuster director Antoinette Jadaone launched an online campaign called “#OplanTulunganSiNanayLilia.”
Jadaone then went to direct Cuntapay in “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay,” an indie mockumentary that won her her first and only Best Actress award in the Cinema One Originals film festival in 2011.
Among Cuntapay’s last projects was the blockbuster film “My Bebe Love #KiligPaMore” and the GMA sitcom “Juan Tamad.”
