Nora Aunor

Nora Aunor, widely considered one of the greatest Filipino actresses of all time, died April 16, 2025 following a medical procedure at the age of 71 in a hospital in Pasig, Philippines.

Aunor began her career as a singer, but her 1967 film debut, "All Over The World," thrust her into the spotlight and helped launch a run of critical and creative success never before seen in Philippines cinema. Works like "Bona" and "Taklub" earned acclaim at Cannes, with such as "Three Years Without God" (1976), "You Are the Mother of Your Daughter" (1979), and "Flowers of the City Jail" (1984) winning wide accolades.

Over the years, Aunor became one of the most widely beloved and respected entertainers in Philippines history. Her list of awards is extensive, with over 250 nominations and 200 wins, including 26 Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) nominations, 13 of them wins. In 1992, she became just the sixth performer in the FAMAS Hall of Fame. Even with over 170 acting credits, Aunor still found time to excel in music, too, earning more than 30 gold records and releasing more than 260 singles over the course of her career.

"Nora Aunor was the everyday Filipino, even at the height of her superstardom," writer and filmmaker Jun Robles Lana said on the social media platform X. "She illuminated the lives of those on the margins, giving voice to the silenced. She wielded her art as both a defiance and a championing force. Yes, she was the superstar, but she constantly reminded us that she was also one of us, who just happened to shine so brightly, a storyteller who dared to look where others wouldn't."

--Eric San Juan

(Image: AP Photo/Joel Ryan)