Diaz is one of the twelve children of lawyer Jaime Diaz and model and socialite Teresa Aspillera. Her sister, Rio Díaz, was also an actress and beauty queen.[5][6][7][4]
Díaz then entered and won Miss Universe 1969, at Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. on July 19, 1969. In the final question round, her answer to the question regarding "men in the moon" charmed the audience and the judges. She was the first Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown. News of her victory (and her measurements) were communicated to the Apollo 11 crew members during their space mission.[9]
During her reign, Díaz travelled through several countries to promote the advocacies supported by the Miss Universe Organization as well as appeared in many public and television events in the United States.
Acting career
Beginnings
Shortly after her reign as Miss Universe ended, she pursued an acting career in the Philippines, and in 1975, she was cast in her breakthrough performance as Isabel in the critically acclaimed Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa. Her performance in the film was met with praise by film critics and was considered one of the most promising breakthroughs of any actress in Philippine cinema. Later that year, she was nominated for a FAMAS Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role.
Commemorative stamps featuring the first three Filipino winners of the Miss Universe pageant (Diaz, left)
Díaz continued acting in film for many years before trying out starring in television. It was in 1996 when she first appeared in the drama series Anna Karenina. She garnered popularity after appearing in the sitcomKool Ka Lang on GMA Network in 1998. That same year, she appeared in the biopic film Jose Rizal where she played Rizal's mother Dona Teodora Alonso. Her portrayal of Rizal's mother won a Best Supporting Actress award at the 1998 Metro Manila Film Festival.
In 2006, Díaz was cast in the psychological thriller Nasaan Ka Man alongside award-winning actress Hilda Koronel, Claudine Barretto, Diether Ocampo and Jericho Rosales. For her role as Lilia, a woman trying to suppress her distraught as she tries to keep her family together, Díaz was once again nominated and eventually awarded as FAMAS Best Supporting Actress.[10]
In 2009, she once again won a FAMAS Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the highly acclaimed film Sagrada Familia.
In 2019, Díaz returned to ABS-CBN and was recently cast in the afternoon drama series Los Bastardos where she portrayed the role of Soledad Cardinal, the long-lost wife of Don Roman Cardinal (Ronaldo Valdez), and Consuelo Cuevas, the mother of Lorenzo Cuevas (Joseph Marco). She also appeared as a fictional version of herself in the second season of the Netflix series Insatiable with Dallas Roberts and Debby Ryan.[11]
In 2020, Díaz returned to TV5 to play the role of Belinda "Tyang Bella" Vasquez on Oh My Dad!.
Diaz married businessman Gabriel Daza III in 1986, and had three children, including Isabelle Daza. They separated in 1995, and she has since been in a relationship with Michael Osmeña de Jesus, a Filipino banker.[12][13]
In 2010, the Cebu chapter of the Vice Mayors League declared Gloria Diaz persona non grata.[why?][14][15]
In a TV Patrol interview shortly after the Miss Universe 2010 pageant on August 23, Díaz commented on Binibining Pilipinas contestant Venus Raj becoming 4th runner-up. She suggested in the interview that perhaps Raj and other Filipinas would benefit from answering pageant questions via the use of an interpreter rather than in English. Díaz further said that:
"Because when you think about a Cebuana can hardly speak English and of course Tagalog. Maybe she should answer in Bisaya."[17]
Her remark sparked outrage amongst many Cebuanos, who felt that Díaz insulted their English proficiency by championing the controversial issue of Tagalog imperialist culture in the Philippines. Cebuano politicians such as Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Congresswoman Rachel del Mar called on her to apologise.[18] In response to the controversy, Díaz declared there was no need to apologize and instead clarified her remarks:
Let me clarify it once and for all. People should have the right to say or to answer (questions) in whatever language they want to say it in. If they're Cebuanos, they can say it in Cebuano. I did not say that they did not speak English. If you're Ilocano, say it in Ilocano. But if you're Ilocano who speaks good English, say it in English. If you're Cebuano who can speak Spanish, if you're comfortable with Spanish, say it in Spanish. That's what I said and that's what I meant.
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