Jose Mari Gonzales (July 26, 1938 – April 16, 2019) was a Filipino actor, executive, matinee idol and politician.
Gonzalez entered the movies at the age of 17 in the late 1950s. He appeared in Ulilang Anghel (1958), Tawag Ng Tanghalan (1958), Mga Anghel Sa Lansangan (1959), Handsome (1959) and Baby Face (1959). He became a matinee idol in Sampaguita Pictures in movies such as Beatnik (1960) with Susan Roces, Joey, Eddie, Lito (1961) with Eddie Gutiérrez and Lito Legaspi, Operatang Sampay Bakod (1961) with Amalia Fuentes and Dolphy, Tindahan Ni Aling Epang (1961) with Liberty Ilagan, Kaming Mga Talyada (1962) where he played gay roles together with Juancho Gutiérrez, Dindo Fernando and Barbara Pérez among others.
In the 1960s, he was paired with Liberty Ilagan as a "loveteam" in Sampaguita Pictures movies. Larry Santiago Productions continued their team-up in the 1966 picture Dearest One.
In 1971, Gonzalez was elected the first president of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI).
Gonzalez produced the first single "Enveloped Ideas" of The Dawn in 1987.
In 2005, Gonzalez was inducted in the Eastwood City Walk of Fame in Eastwood City, Quezon City.
In 1998, he ran for Congress as an independent candidate and won in San Juan, Metro Manila. On November 13, 2000, Gonzalez was involved in a slapping incident of retired general Bayani Fabic, Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, which had impeached President Joseph Estrada. For the misdeed and after a lengthy court trial, the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court found Gonzalez guilty on criminal charges of grave slander by deed.[2]
Gonzalez was born in Manila.[3] He studied at De La Salle College in Manila, majoring in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
He was married to Charito Malarkey, a former model of Spanish and British ancestry. Their paths first crossed when she was twelve and he, seventeen. He was the father of actresses Cristina González de Romuáldez (wife of Mayor Alfred Romuáldez) and Ana Margarita González.
During the term of President Cory Aquino, Gonzalez was appointed director of the Bureau of Broadcast Services and in 1994, made head of state-owned television station RPN 9. As a TV executive, he adapted the telenovelas Marimar and La Traidora, dubbed in Tagalog, for the Philippine audience.