Victor "Cocoy" Laurel

The Engineer (London, Sydney)

Victor Cocoy Laurel was first discovered when he won the title of Romeo in the Paramount Pictures nationwide search for the Romeo and Juliet of the Philippines in 1970. In 1971 he made his first film with Filipino superstar Nora Aunor, entitled Lollipops and Roses filmed in the United States with the co-star Don Johnson of Miami Vice. This film was an overnight box office hit and marked the beginning of successive films.

In 1972 he joined Repertory Philippines in Fiddler On The Roof and later in The Fantasticks. After his second film, Till Death Us Do Part, he auditioned in New York at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts where he studied for two years, receiving his Diploma from Helen Hayes. He returned to Manila in 1973 to perform in further films and plays such as Pippin, Tony in West Side Story, Anthony in Sweeney Todd, Charlie in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Che Guevarra in Evita and John Merrick in The Elephant Man.

He worked in Philippine Theatre and Film until he joined the original cast of Miss Saigon in London, where he played the Assistant Commissar. Upon returning to Manila he resumed his theatrical works starring in productions as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, King Arthur in Camelot and Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. In March this year he played both the Engineer and Jean Valjean in the much acclaimed The Music of Alain Boubill & Claude-Michel Schonberg Concert in Manila .

(The Capitol Theatre, 1995) (Bio courtesy of Adam Wilson)