Weng Weng
| Ernesto de la Cruz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ernesto de la Cruz September 7, 1957 Baclaran, Parañaque, Rizal, Philippines |
| Died | August 29, 1992 (aged 34) Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines |
| Occupation | Actor, martial artist |
| Years active | 1972–1990(?) |
Ernesto de la Cruz (September 7, 1957 – August 29, 1992), better known as Weng Weng, was a Filipino actor and martial artist. Only 83 cm (2 feet, 9 inches) tall, he is listed in the Guinness World Records as the shortest adult actor in a leading role. He played Secret Agent 00 in For Y’ur Height Only and The Impossible Kid, and also starred in the western "D’Wild Wild Weng" and "Da Best in the West". In total, Weng Weng was a co-star or appeared in 14 films, however many of them are considered lost, like about 80% of Pinoy movies.
Weng Weng was born in Baclaran. He was christened as Ernesto de la Cruz and was the youngest of the five de la Cruz children (all boys). Weng Weng was born with a medical condition known as primordial dwarfism, which caused him to only grow to a height of 2 feet and 9 inches tall. According to his brother Celing de la Cruz, when his mother gave birth to Weng-Weng, his size was “no bigger than a small coke bottle”, this forced Weng Weng’s parents to place him in the care of the hospital incubator for the first twelve months of his life. During this time, the doctors were advising the de la Cruz couple that Weng Weng might not survive but miraculously he did, and being devoted Catholics, the couple showed their devotion to their faith by dressing and parading a young Weng Weng as Santo Niño each year for the annual Baclaran parade.
As a child, Weng Weng was described by his brother and some of his childhood peers as a mischievous but cheerful kid. He was also an avid martial arts enthusiast even when he was young. Weng Weng trained hard and diligently he became a skilled fighter. This paved the way for his first opportunity in show business when his former martial arts instructor introduced him to Liliw Productions’ Peter Caballes, an independent film producer. Peter and his wife Cora Ridon Caballes shopped Weng Weng to other film producers and cinema outfits which landed him his early roles in movies, playing a little child, a small animal, or an alien from outer space.
Weng Weng's first movie part is believed to be that of the baby Moses in the 1972 Filipino biblical epic "Go Tell It On The Mountain", which also starred future Philippine president Joseph Estrada as the adult Moses. Another of his early roles was in the 1973 sci-fi film called “Moon Boy from Another Planet”. He played a small alien who accidentally crashed here on Earth eventually befriending a poor Filipino boy. This low budget film was shown almost a decade ahead of another alien-meets-boy story film, the Hollywood blockbuster movie "E.T". Manoy later unsuccessfully attempted to sue Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg, claiming he had stolen the idea for "E.T." from him.
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