AN ENTERTAINMENT career spanning 65 years and 168 movies is no joke. To be specific, a multi-media career spanning bodabil (live stage), radio, the movies, and television is surely no laughing matter.

It?s easy to understand why the entire movie industry accorded King of Comedy Dolphy with a Lifetime Achievement honor at this year?s Metro Manila Film Festival.

This is Mang Dolphy?s nth time to join the annual fest, with his son, filmmaker/actor Eric Quizon?s pet project, ?Nobody, Nobody But ... Juan.?

Colleagues and admirers also gave him a well-deserved standing ovation at the MMFF ceremony held at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, on Monday.

By the end of Mang Dolphy?s speech, in which he revealed the secret of his success (?Be humble.?), even a grizzled movie producer was in tears.

In this busy holiday season, in the middle of promoting ?Juan,? Mang Dolphy managed to squeeze in a rare one-on-one with the Inquirer team ? precious two hours filled with anecdotes from a storied life and stellar career.

As bonus, son Eric was also present to share family memories.

Again, in his simplicity and candor, Mang Dolphy showed us why he was King.

Eric mentioned that you?re apolitical, but why do people always seek your political views, even your endorsement?

Ewan ko (I don?t know)!

Maybe it?s because you?ve survived and witnessed so much of our history?

Ah, oo (Yes). Panahon pa ni Quezon (as far back as the time of Quezon)! (Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon.) Nakita ko pa nga si Quezon nang personal (I even saw Quezon in person). Pumunta siya sa Tondo (He went to Tondo).

Is he short?

Hindi naman siya maliit. Mga kasing-taas ko siya, saka maputi din. Nakasuot siya ng breeches at boots. Tinitingnan niya ?yong Bagong Pulo. ?Yong mga bahay na nakatayo sa tabing dagat. Di ko alam kung ano ang pakay niya doon. Mga 10 years old lang yata ako noon (He?s not small. We are of the same height and he?s also fair-skinned. He was wearing breeches and boots. He was looking at the New Island. Those houses that have been built near the sea. I didn?t know why he was there. I think I was only about 10 years old.)

Alam kong sikat siya dahil pinagkaguluhan siya ng mga tao. Lahat sumisigaw: Presidente! Presidente (I knew he was famous because people were mobbing him. Everybody was shouting: The President! The President)

Why do you think politicians seek your approval?

Samantalang ayoko ng politika talaga(Considering I don?t like politics). Nag-umpisa kay FPJ (actor Fernando Poe Jr. who ran for President in 2004) ?yan. Hindi ko siya matanggihan (It started with FPJ. I couldn?t say no).

Why are you supporting Senator Manny Villar?

Taga-Tondo din siya e. Saka mabuting tao. Naging ninong pa ni (son) Vandolph sa kasal. Noong na-nominate ako as National Artist, sinuportahan niya ako (He also comes from Tondo. And he?s a good person. He even became the godfather of my son Vandolph in the wedding. When I was nominated as National Artist, he supported me.)

Pareho kaming taga-Tondo. Taga-Moriones ako, kung saan mismo nag-proclamation rally si Manny [We are both from Tondo. I come from Moriones where Manny also held his proclamation rally). I grew up in that place: kanto ng Moriones at Santa Maria (corner of Moriones and Santa Maria).

What was it like growing up in Tondo?

Nagtinda ako ng mani at butong-pakwan sa mga sinehan do?n. Ngayon bawal nang sumigaw ng ?mani-mani, butong pakwan? sa loob ng sinehan. Babatuhin ka! Nagtinda din ako ng singkamas na malamig (I sold peanuts and watermelon seeds in the movies then. Today you can no longer shout ?peanuts, watermelon seeds? inside the moviehouse. They will shoo you away! I also sold cold turnips).

What were the movies you watched then?

Magaganda (They were beautiful). Mga Hollywood movies (They were Hollywood movies). Kaya kilala ko ang mga matatandang artista (That?s why I know the old actors). Sina (They were) Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, Spencer Tracy. Saka Laurel and Hardy siyempre (And of course Laurel and Hardy).

What was it like when you revisited Tondo recently?

Well, iba na itsura ng Tondo eh. Talagang nagsisiksikan ang mga bahay at tao ngayon (Well, Tondo now looks different. The houses and people there are crowded)).

Noong nagka-sunog doon, ?yong pinakamalaking sunog sa Tondo bago magka-giyera (1940), taga-doon pa kami. Hindi naman nasunog ang bahay namin (When a fire broke out there, the biggest fire to break out in Tondo before the war, we still lived there. But our house did not burn down).

Ang kapitbahay namin noon si (radio personality) Paeng Yabut. Mga three houses away sila. Mga partido sila ng pulis e (Our neighbor then was Paeng Yabut. They were three houses away. They were part of the police force).

What makes Tondo special?

Espesyal sa basag-ulo! Hahaha! Okay ang mga tao doon, kaya lang pag may luko-luko, luko-luko talaga. Pero masasabi ko na maraming mababait at magagaling na taga-Tondo (Special to the rubble rowsers! The people there are okay except that they can be crazy, as in really crazy. But I can also say that there are a lot of good and talented people in Tondo).

Hindi na nga ako madalas makabisita ngayon. Iba na ang tambayan ko, Rockwell na (I do not get to visit it often. I now go somewhere else, Rockwell)!

Eric, are you curious about your dad?s growing-up years in Tondo?

Eric: Yes. We planned to shoot the cover of my dad?s book sa dati niyang school, sa (in his former school, in) Torres High.

Dolphy: Magat Salamat. Isabelo de los Reyes, noong elementary (when I was in elementary). Tabi ng simbahan (Beside the church).

Eric: We had the old pictures. Kaso iba na ang itsura (Problem is, it now looks different).

Dolphy: Sayang ?yong mga old buildings natin. ?Yong Opera House ginawa ng hotel ?ata. Metropolitan Theater na lang ang natitira (It?s a pity that our old buildings are no longer there. Looks like the Opera House has been converted into a hotel. It seems that only the Metropolitan Theater has remained standing).

Eric: Nakapag-shooting pa kami sa (We were even able to shoot at the) Metropolitan for ?Juan.?

What was it like working with your contemporaries Eddie Garcia and Gloria Romero in ?Juan??

It was very nice. Okay kaming lahat (We?re all okay). Dati ko pa sila nakakasama, Sampaguita (studio) days pa (We have been together even before, during our Sampaguita days). Masaya (We were all happy). At (And) very professional. Pag trabaho, trabaho. Pag biruan, biruan (If it?s work, work. If we kid around then we kid around). Si Gloria, bungisngis (Gloria laughs a lot).

What was it like working in bodabil (vaudeville)?

Mahirap. Kailangang all-around ka. Kailangan marunong kang mag-tap dance. No?ng maghiwalay si Bayani Casimiro at ?yong partner niyang si Nieves, ako ang kinuha niyang kapalit. Siya ang nagturo sa akin na mag-tap dance. Kaya ako nagsimulang bumiyahe sa Japan at Hong Kong. Kami ang original na OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers)! (It was hard. You have to be all-around. You have to know tap dance. When Bayani Casimiro and his partner Nieves separated, he took me in as a replacement. He taught me how to tap dance. That?s why I started to travel to Japan and Hong Kong. We were the original OFWS)!

Eric, did you ever realize that you are following in your dad?s footsteps, as an OFW in Hong Kong?

Eric: I only realized it when we were doing my dad?s book. It was not deliberate. I never planned it. It?s a nice coincidence that I?m also into live entertainment in Hong Kong.

Mang Dolphy, do you miss performing in live theater?

Oo siyempre. Kaya pag nag-tour kami, at home na at home ako do?n (Of course. That?s why when we do a tour, I feel so at home there).

But do you feel more relaxed onstage now?

Hindi naman. Siyempre pag labas mo, dapat may mga bago kang gagawin at ipapakita. Hindi naman puwedeng puro luma ang gagawin mo (Not really. Of course, when you step out on stage, you have to show and do something new. You cannot show an old act).

Eric: There?s a funny story. We were on our third show for our world tour, in Reno, Nevada. Ikukuwento ko dad, ha (let me tell them dad, alright)?

He ate so much in my mom?s restaurant, so he got constipated. He took medicine. The next day, during our rehearsals, he got tummy aches. He got dehydrated.

We were all worried. He was weak on the day of the show. He was running a fever. His blood pressure was high. He was heaving.

During company call, we prayed. He said: ?Lord, give me strength. I only want the people to be happy.?

Dolphy: They prayed over me.

Eric: I also produced that show kasi. We had a nurse on standby. But after his number, his blood pressure normalized.

Dolphy: Pag nasa stage na ako, iba na. Parang nagkakaroon ako ng ibang energy. Ang tawa ng tao ang bumubuhay sa akin (When I?m on stage, it?s different. I feel like I have renewed energy. It is the laughter of the people that sustains me).

Eric: He just needed to perform.

What does the audience give to you?

Lumalakas ang loob ko. Saka siyempre napi-feel ko sila. Kaya tinitingnan ko sila lagi habang nagpe-perform ako (I gain strength. And of course I can feel them. That?s why I look at them when I perform).

When you go on tour, do you remember the good old days of bodabil?

Siyempre puma-flashback sa akin ?yon. Opera House. Orient Theater. Sa Avenue Theater, kami nagkasama ng tatay ni Ronnie (FPJ). Si Nanding (Fernando Poe Sr.). Doon ako nag-umpisang lumabas. That was war time na (Of course I get flashbacks. Opera House. Orient Theater. At the Avenue Theater, I was with the father of Ronnie [FPJ], Nanding. That?s where I started performing. That was already war time).

Nilagay namin ?yong mga experiences ko noong World War II sa ?Juan.? Pag may air raid, nagtatago kaming mga performer sa fox hole. Ginagawa naming bomb shelter ang orchestra pit (We placed my experiences during World War II in ?Juan.? If there was an air raid, we, the performers, would hide in a fox hole. We would use the orchestra pit as a bomb shelter).

Tita Gloria?s character in the movie is called Aida. Isn?t that the name of your first love, the fellow dancer you met while doing bodabil?

(Smiles). Oo. Nag live-in kami sa dressing room kasi wala akong pera noon (Yes. We lived in inside the dressing room because we didn?t have money then).

Did you ever consider courting Tita Gloria?

Nahihiya ako dahil (I was embarrassed because I) I respect her. Ang taas ng tingin ko sa kanya (I held her in high esteem).

We heard your dream was to portray a priest.

Yes, meron akong niluluto (I?m cooking up something). About a priest na lumipat sa isang province that?s run by a crime syndicate (It?s about a priest that moved to one province being run by a crime syndicate). May comedy pero political din (There?s comedy but at the same, it is also political). It?s a touchy subject. It?s about a fighting priest. Parang si (It?s like) Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio.

We heard you became sad because you couldn?t promote ?Juan? on ?Eat Bulaga??

Hindi naman puwede kasi tungkol sa matandang gustong manood ng ?Wowowee? ang pelikula namin. Kalaban nila sa time slot ?yon e (It wasn?t really possible because our movie was about an old man that wanted to watch ?Wowowee?, a rival program in the same time slot).

Did you ever talk to (?Bulaga? co-host) Vic Sotto about it?

Hindi. Hindi namin pinag-uusapan ang mga ganoon. Alam naman niyang mahal na mahal ko siya (No. We don?t talk about those things. He knows that I love him very much).

Until when is your contract with ABS-CBN?

Malapit nang matapos (It?s almost finished).

There?s talk you may move to TV5?

Wala naman (None).