Emerenciana Ortiz Santos (July 21, 1937 – August 8, 2017), professionally known as Zeny Zabala, was a Filipina actress. Born and raised in Marikina, she was famously known as the "villain of Sampaguita Pictures" for her frequent portrayals of antagonist roles in her films.
Early life Zabala was the fourth of nine siblings and was born in Marikina to shoemaker Enrique Santos and Ursula Ortiz.
Career She was discovered in 1953 while accompanying her sister, Caridad, who was already working in the film industry. Her first role was as a mother in the 1953 film Siga-Siga, where her character dies giving birth to Anita Linda's character. Due to her film career, she was forced to drop out of high school in her second year. Her first movie with Sampaguita Pictures was Binibining Kalog, opposite Lolita Rodriguez and Ramon Revilla. She later married actor Rodolfo "Boy" Garcia on June 30, 1958.
In 1963, Zabala became a freelance actress. In 1964, she received her first FAMAS nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Ang Bukas Ay Akin!, starring Charito Solis and Nestor de Villa. That same year, she remarried, this time to director Ben Feleo.
In the mid-1960s, alongside her film career, Zabala began establishing businesses in Marikina, including a restaurant called Zeny Zabala's Canteen near the town's Shoe Trade Fair, a shoe-making shop called LeConstant Shoe Shop, and a furniture store. She was soon offered a lead role in the film Ruby by businessman Narciso G. Isidro, Zabala's relative and the grandfather of singer Agot Isidro. The film was to be produced by NGI Productions, a newly established studio in Marikina.
In the 1980s, she continued to appear in more films with Dolphy, including Kalabog en Bosyo Strike Again (1985) and her final known big-screen appearance, Tataynic (1998), both directed by her husband, Ben Feleo, who died in 2011. She co-starred with Vilma Santos in Marilou Diaz-Abaya's Baby Tsina (1984) and played Santos' cruel mother-in-law in Chito Roño's Ikaw Lang (1991).
In 1982, she joined the cast of John en Marsha as the mother of Madel, Rolly Puruntong's wife.
Personal life At one point, she was married to Rodolfo "Boy" Garcia, another fellow actor from Sampaguita Pictures, in 1958. The couple would be eventually separated in 1964 and Garcia would later marry actress Lucita Soriano in 1968.
In the same year, she married director Ben Feleo, whom she had met in 1962. She became the stepmother of Feleo's son, Johnny Delgado, from his previous marriage. Feleo died of a stroke in September 2011.
Death Zabala died at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City on August 8, 2017, due to kidney failure. She was 80 years old.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Note(s) . 1954 Siga-Siga 1954 Lourdes Milyonarya at Hampaslupa Tin-Edyer 1955 Pandora Binibining Kalog 1956 Prince Charming Teresa Gilda Gigolo 1957 Sino ang Maysala? Pasang Krus Pretty Boy Prinsesang Gusgusin 1958 Mga Reyna ng Vicks Palaboy Berdaderong Ginto Talipandas 1963 Dance-O-Rama Ang Bukas Ay Akin 1964 Ang Mahiwagang Pag-ibig ni Lola Cinderella 1965 Ana-Roberta 1966 Viva Ranchera Esmeralda 1967 The Sunjuka Master Ruby Ruby 1968 Mindanao Room for Rent 1969 Kalinga Luzviminda: Inang Pilipinas Luzviminda 1970 Our Lady of Peñafrancia (Patroness of Bicolandia) 1984 Baby Tsina 1985 John en Marsha '85 1987 My Bugoy Goes to Congress 1991 Ikaw Lang Martha Contreras Gang Chinese wife 1993 Gagay: Prinsesa ng Brownout Aling Huling 1995 Okey si Mam 1996 Neber2Geder 1997 Extranghero Doña Isabel 1997 Strict ang Parents Ko! Doña Felicidad Zaragoza 1998 Tataynic Doña Isabel
References
External links Biodata, newsflash.org; accessed August 22, 2017. The mark of ZZ, asianjournal.com; accessed August 22, 2017.