The Brown Adonis of the ‘50s, Mario Montenegro, was also an accomplished painter. A Philippine Panorama article in July 1979 was titled ‘Movie Star Mario Montenegro has a new starring role: Painter after Botong Francisco’s own heart.’ At the University of the Philippines where he took up fine arts, one of his mentors was the renowned painter from Angono, Rizal, who was much later named National Artist. ...Mario with Letty and Botong...Botong and Mario and his wife Letty Alonzo, briefly a movie actress, formed a lifelong friendship. He was then known as ‘the town painter.’…and doing the portrait of daughter MarilenEven as a top actor of LVN and other movie studios, Mario didn’t abandon painting. The Panorama article noted that Mario mounted a one-man painting in July 1979 at the Peninsula Hotel’s art gallery with the help of Botong Francisco.

Source: Philippine Star June 15, 2019 15:56 UTC