Fernando Poe, Sr.

For the American poet, see Edgar Allan Poe.

Fernando Poe
Born	Allan Fernando Poe y Reyes November 27, 1916 San Carlos, Pangasinan, Philippine Islands
Died	Manila, Philippines
Other names	Allan F. Poe, Fernando Reyes Poe, Fernando Poe, Sr.
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, writer
Years active	1935–1951
Spouse(s)	Paulita Gomez (m. 1936) Elizabeth Gatbonton Kelley (m. 1940; until his death in 1951)
Children	Elizabeth (Liz) Ronald Allan (Ronnie or FPJ) Fernando II (Andy) Genevieve (Jenny) Fredrick (Freddieboy) Evangeline (Eva) Conrad

Allan Fernando Poe y Reyes (November 27, 1916 – October 23, 1951) better known by his stage name Fernando Poe or Fernando Poe Sr. was a Filipino actor during the early cinema era in the Philippines. He is of Spanish descent.

Poe was the father of Fernando Poe, Jr., who later became a prominent actor and icon. Prior to his son's rise to fame, Poe had been known simply as Fernando Poe. Since then, he had been named Fernando Poe, Sr. to distinguish him from his son. He directed the first Darna film in 1951 before he died in the same year. As a leading man, he was often cast opposite Mona Lisa.

Biography

Fernando Poe of San Carlos City, Pangasinan had six children by his 2nd wife, Irish-American Elizabeth "Bessie" Gatbonton Kelley of Pampanga, namely Elizabeth, Ronald Allan (Ronnie or FPJ), Fernando II (Andy), Genevieve (Jenny), Fredrick (Freddieboy), and Evangeline. Poe and Kelly were married in 1940 after their first two children were born. Actor Conrad Poe was his illegitimate son by actress Patricia Mijares.

The original spelling of his surname was Pou (Catalan: ['pɔw]) via his father, playwright Lorenzo Pou, a Catalan immigrant from Majorca, Balearic, Spain, who established a mining business in the Philippines and married a Pangasinan woman named Marta Reyes.

Poe graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines in 1935 and the degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine from the Philippine Dental College in 1942.

During a film shooting, Fernando Poe died in 1951 after he permitted a rabid puppy to lick his wound. (source from a 1951 article about his death)

Selected filmography

• Darna (1951)
• Forbidden Women (1948)
• Giliw ko (1939)
• Zamboanga (1938) also known as Fury in Paradise (UK)
• Eseng ng Tondo (1937)

External links

• Fernando Poe, Sr. at the Internet Movie Database

• ...indicated that (Ronald Allan Poe's) parents are Allan F. Poe and Bessie Kelley.
• ...no available information could be found in the files of the National Archives regarding the birth of Allan F. Poe....records of birth in (the City Civil Registrar of San Carlos City, Pangasinan) during the period of from 1900 until May 1946 were totally destroyed during World War II...
• The document (Affidavit for Philippine Army Personnel, Dec. 22, 1947), signed by “Fernando R. Poe” states, among others, the names of the signatory’s children, namely Elizabeth, Ronald Allan, and Fernando II