Anita Linda(1924-2020)

Anita Linda was born Alice Buenaflor Lake in Pasay City, Manila, Philippines. Her parents were James Lake, an American mining engineer, and Gorgonia Buenaflor of Iloilo. She attended Polo Elementary School and graduated from Good Shepherd Convent High School. She married actor Fred Cortes, with whom she had a son, actor Fred Cortes Jr..Before WWII, a teenaged Alice, while watching a stage show at the Avenue Theater starring Leopoldo Salcedo and Lopito, was called backstage by director Lamberto V. Avellana and asked if she wanted to become an actress. There must have been something in her that the renowned director saw as she sat watching the show. She demurred that, being Visayan, she couldn't speak Tagalog. The director, nevertheless, told her to report for rehearsals for the next show. When she failed to appear he had her fetched. This is how she became an actress.