María Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, popularly known as Lea Salonga came to life on February 22nd 1971, in Manila, Philippines. She was born to the parents Feliciano Genuino Salonga, who was a commander and owner of a shipping company by profession, and to her mother María Ligaya Alcantara. She has a brother named Gerard Salonga, who is also an actor by profession. Lea is known for her work as an actor and a musician and she became popular because she was one of the few celebrities from Philippines who earned so much popularity in Hollywood. Lea did her schooling from ‘O. B. Montessori Center’ in 1988 and later on did her graduation from ‘University of Philippines’ learning music. Lea also tried to graduate in Biology when she joined a University with Biology as majors, but she later dropped out to pursue her interest in acting and music.
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Lea is known for her beauty, she is not very tall and 5' 2½" (1.59 m) in height and has got extremely good looks. She was placed in the Top 50, most beautiful people across the world by a magazine. Lea was married to her present husband, a business tycoon named ‘Robert Charles Chien’ in the year 2004 in a private wedding and they both are spending a enjoyable life with their children. Lea and Robert have a daughter named ‘Nicole Beverly’ who came to life in 2006. Lea apart from acting and music also likes to play Video games in her free and leisure time. Lea has also been associated with the prestigious United Nations as a Goodwill ambassador for one of their Food and Agricultural programs.
According to her biography, Lea started her professional career at a mere age of 7 years, who most of the children are learning to interact with the outside world. She acted in a musical recording named ‘The King and I’ and later on in her teens acted in other productions like ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ and many others. She made her debut album in the year 1981, when she was just 10 years old and the album was named ‘Small Voice’. The album went on to become a major hit in Philippines.
She also hosted a TV show in 1980s with the name ‘Love, Lea’. As a child artist, she won many awards like Alíw award for the best child performer, 3 times in a row and nominations for best child actor by the prestigious FAMAS. Her name to fame came when in 1989, Lea acted for a role named ‘Kim’ in a series named ‘Miss Saigon’. Her role was much appreciated and she won multiple awards for this role. She won awards like ‘Laurence Olivier Award’, ‘Outer Critics Circle’ Award and ‘Theatre World Award’ for this role. Lea later on worked in many movies and TV shows and won multiple awards for her performances. She also gave her voice for the character of princess Jasmine in Aladdin in 1992 and for the famous series Mulan in 1998. Lea was named as a legend by Disney in 2011 for her long association and appreciable work with Disney.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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