Lou Salvador

Luis "Lou" Salvador Sr. (July 7, 1905 – March 1, 1973) was a Filipino basketball player, stage actor, and talent manager. Salvador was born in Tacloban, Leyte, to a Spanish father and a mestiza mother.

As a player for the Philippine national basketball team during the 1923 Far Eastern Games, he scored 116 points in a single game, being one of the few basketball players to have scored over 100 points in a single game. He later became a leading figure in Philippine show business as a talent manager and a stage show impresario.

Several among his 97 children became notable personalities in the Philippine entertainment scene, beginning with his son Lou Salvador Jr., who was dubbed "The James Dean of the Philippines".

Basketball career Salvador first played for the Philippine men's national basketball team at the age of seventeen, at the 1921 Far Eastern Games held in Shanghai. He also represented the Philippines in the 1923 and the 1925 Far Eastern Games, where his team in both instances won the gold medal. Salvador also played collegiate basketball for the Jose Rizal College Heavy Bombers, leading them to a national championship in 1924. With this feat, he became one of only few basketball players to have scored over 100 points in a single game. Salvador would later attribute his achievement to excellent conditioning, recounting that for a whole year prior to that game, he had practiced daily at the YMCA compound in Manila, using a medicine ball which he would throw repeatedly to acclimatize his body. Dubbed as "The Master Showman", children and reputedly had 48 women.

Apart from Lou Salvador Jr., he also fathered the actors Alona Alegre, Leroy Salvador (director, producer and politician), the eldest of the Salvador siblings, Mina Aragon, Phillip Salvador, Ross Rival, Chona Sandoval (mother of Emil and AJ Sandoval), and Jumbo Salvador. Jobelle Salvador and Deborah Sun (daughters of Leroy Salvador), Joshua Aquino (son of Phillip Salvador and Kris Aquino), and Jon Hernandez and Maja Salvador (son and daughter of Ross Rival) are his grandchildren. Ethan Salvador (son of Emil and grandson of Chona Sandoval), Analain Salvador and Ashton Salvador (grandchildren of Alona Alegre) are his great grandchildren. Singer Juan Miguel Salvador (father of actress Janella Salvador) is the grandson of Lou Salvador's brother Pedro Salvador.