The two Kings of Comedy also had Kapampangan blood: Dolphy, Rodolfo Quizon in real life (his wife was also a Kapampangan, from Mabalacat, Gracita Dominguez, who lived across our house) and Chiquito, Augusto Pangan in real life, from Apalit.
The top drama actors have roots in Pampanga: Christopher de Leon (whose mother is a Dizon), Eddie del Mar, best known for his Jose Rizal portrayals (from Macabebe), Oscar Roncal (Sasmuan), Dante Rivero (Floridablanca), Pepito and Ramil Rodriguez (San Fernando), Luis Gonzales (San Luis) and Coco Martin (San Fernando).
So do the top action stars: Bernard Belleza (from Macabebe), Tony Ferrer (also Macabebe), Jess Lapid and Lito Lapid (both from Porac).
Because of Manila’s proximity to Pampanga, Kapampangans went to the capital to help set up the Philippine movie industry, preferring to learn Tagalog and work far from home rather that create a Kapampangan movie industry. In 1934, a group of businessmen in Angeles (Jose Sanchez, Rafael Lazatin, Alfonso de Leon, Placido de Guzman, Andres Guevarra, Jose Ganzon and Joaquin de Guzman) made an attempt to put up a movie production outfit named Novelty Films after observing film crews from Manila shoot movies in the town.
Today there is hope that Kapampangans will finally get their act together and start producing films using the Kapampangan language, depicting the Kapampangan experience, catering to Kapampangan audiences and promoting Kapampangan culture.