Who would have thought that a name as ambiguous as a Tanquintic would make it in showbiz? Well, it did for Margie, and how.

In 1963, Margie Tanquintic was the hottest dancer in town.

At 15, she was on top of the world. And with good grades at a local high school, she had hoped to be a doctor. It was a school-girl fantasy that didn’t seem so remote then. After all, both her parents were working, and she and her only brother Boy were just having the time of their lives.

Margie was filled with joy when she and her partner, a kinakapatid, were declared as winners in a dance competition launched by Channel 11’s “DJ Dance Time” hosted by Eddie Mercado and Boots Taylor.

She had every reason to feel proud. “Halo-halo ‘yon,” says Margie. “Kung ano yung uso o itugtog ng combo, isasayaw ng contestants. The daily winners would compete for the weekly finals, and so on, until they found the year’s winner. I won in the grand finals.”

Her involvement in the said contest was influenced by her mother Carmen, who wished to see her dancing on television. Carmen, who worked as a voice talent in radio soaps as Inday Romero, was a fantastic dancer herself. And because she had a dance studio in Avenida, it followed that she raised her two children as dancers too.

To entice her daughter, Carmen promised that she would knit beautiful costumes for Margie. “Mahilig siyang mag-gantsilyo at every time na lalabas ako, ‘yon ang suot ko,” she adds.

Margie’s fate took a dramatic twist after her big win, when Boy Pineda of Larry Santiago Productions offered her a lead role in “Kanang Kamay.”

She says, “Fortunately, the studio was on the lookout for seven new faces with titles. I was chosen along with Dulce Lucban, who was Miss Night Owl; Maggie Huggins, etc.”

The mid-60s was a period in entertainment when the musical was the rage. The toasts of tinseltown during that era were the singing icons like Eddie Mesa, Diomedes Maturan and combos such as the Electromaniacs, the Celtics, and RJ & The Riots.

“Sampaguita (Pictures) had the Stars 66, while we at Larry Santiago (Productions) had Helen Gamboa,” says Margie. In fact, her first movies headlined the pretty Gamboa: “Let's Go” and “DJ Dance Time,” both in 1964.

While she started as a dancer, Margie through time had transformed into a fine dramatic actress. In the 1968 FAMAS, she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Kumander Dimas” (1968) that starred Vic Vargas.

She also did “Hari ng Lansangan” (1965) with Alberto Alonzo, “Karate sa Karate” (1965) with Bernard Bonnin, “Dalawang Kumander sa WAC” (1966) with Dolphy and Chiquito; “Langit Pa Rin Kita” (1967) with Marlene Dauden; “Bakit Kita Inibig?” (1968) with Fred Galang; and “Buy One, Take One” (1968) with Dolphy and Pilita Corrales.

However, just five years after Margie joined showbiz, her father died.

She says, “My father used to work in the sound department of Sampaguita (Pictures) but he got sick. When he recovered, Jose Mari (Gonzalez) commissioned him to handle the technical side of his Cinema Audio recording studio. Lagi siyang napupuyat at walang pahinga. He was only 51, when he died.

“That’s why, at the age of twenty, I became the sole breadwinner of our family. I was working double-time, kasi ‘di naman ganoon kalaki ang kita noong araw. Ang bida noon got five thousand lang per movie.

“From Monday to Saturday, I would sing in different clubs. Pag-uwi ko, and someone called me for a TV guesting, aayusin ko na gamit ko for taping. When it’s over by five or six in the afternoon, maghahanda na ’ko for my gig at seven p.m. My Sundays naman were allotted for my Hawaiian and Tahitian tutorials. Wala talagang pahinga.

“To further augment our income, my mom naman, would bake home-made ensaymada. Movie stars like Pepito Rodriguez, Lilian Laing and Annabelle Rama were among her clients.”

During the bomba era in the early 70s, Margie reinvented herself, to survive. “Hindi ako puwede sa bikini at kissing. So, I switched to singing. Kumakanta ako d’yan sa Carbuncos and Victoria Peak with other stars like Sofia Moran, Verna Gaston, Clarita Rivera and Tessie Reyes, hanggang nahasa na ako sa pagkanta.”

In 1970, actor Angel Esmeralda who was based in Guam , invited Margie to be one of the performers for the Filipino community there.

“That was my first travel abroad,” says Margie. “Then, I joined the Allegro Dancers of Amelia Apolinario in Japan as a singer-dancer.

“In 1982, I became a part of a trio with Clarita (Rivera) and Tessie (Reyes). So, during the 80s, my routine would be, six months in Japan , then I’d comeback to renew my contract. Tapos, six months uli doon sa Japan . Pabalik-balik.

By this time, Margie was also taking care of her two children. Her first marriage didn’t turn out as rosy as she had imagined.

“While I was abroad, yung mga bata naiwan kay Mommy. They were probably only eight or nine years old then. I just explained to them that I needed to work for their future.”

She continues, “Whenever I’m here, I would appear in movies and TV dramas such as ‘Lovingly Yours’ and ‘Connie Reyes on Camera.” One of her last feature films was “Saan Darating Ang Umaga?”(1983) for Viva Films.

“I wasn’t able to finish my studies,” admits Margie. “Hanggang 3rd year lang ako. Hinahabol ako no’ng principal sa Plaridel High School sa Mandaluyong kasi medyo maganda naman ang grades ko noon. But I had to work for the family.

“When my eldest Sandy celebrated her debut, she told me: Mama, yung dream mo na hindi mo nakuha I will do it for you.

“Ginawa naman n’ya. Now, she’s an OB Gyne. My son Brian naman is an I.T. specialist.”

“Yung nakatapos ang mga anak ko, I consider that as my greatest achievement,” she says.

Today, Margie lives with her mother Carmen, her two children and her dear apo---- Brian’s son, a very smart Michael Jackson wanna-be named Van. Her husband of 24 years, a Korean national, is presently in Japan.

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