Sam Milby

Sam Milby (born Samuel Lloyd Lacia Milby on May 23, 1984 in Troy, Ohio) is a Filipino-American actor, model, and recording artist. Milby grew up with a Filipina mother native to Tago, Surigao del Sur and an American father.

Milby became an instant celebrity and heartthrob after leaving the Pinoy Big Brother House in November 2005. He currently appears in in a Sunday musical variety show, ASAP Mania, through his own segment called 'Sam Sessions'. He also rendered his version of Only You to ABS-CBN's Tagalog-dubbed Korean soap of the same title.

Milby's first major film debut was Close to You, produced by ABS-CBN subsidiary Star Cinema and co-starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo. Milby also released a self-titled debut album in early 2006, which was repackaged in the third quarter of 2006.
Milby is currently seen in the ABS-CBN primetime soap opera, Maging Sino Ka Man.

Early Life: 1984-2005

Samuel Lloyd Lacia Milby is the youngest child of Elsie Lacia, from Surigao and Lloyd Milby, an entrepreneur from Ohio. Sam was raised on a 12-acre property in Troy, Ohio.
Milby's early passion was ice skating. Training for competitive skating followed soonafter. From age 9, Milby trained and lived with his coach and was home schooled until he was 15. On the weekends, he would get the chance to go home to his family and spend time with them. During this period in his life, he competed in numerous major ice skating competitions including the Junior Nationals. He and his skating partner of 4 years won silver and other awards in the course of his serious skating stint.

By age 15, he quit skating and went back to regular high school where he continued to excel in sports, academics, and even music. He became part of his high school’s wrestling team, competed in motocross races, played golf and was voted president of his high school’s choir.



Sam: The Pinoy Discovery

Aside from his immediate family, Milby did not grow up with many Filipinos around. Yet the talented Fil-Am was no foreigner to his mother’s country. He, along with his family, had visited the Philippines several times before. At one time he did take a shot at Philippine showbusiness. But pressing personal matters then prodded him to return to the States.
In his March 2005 return to the Philippines, Milby decided to seriously pursue a career in showbusiness and modeling. At the time, he temporarily stayed with relatives in Bulacan. Everyday he would take the bus to Manila to answer casting calls and auditions for modeling. Results were not always encouraging but his tenacity did yield some fruit. He landed bit roles in certain ads. Then came a big break from Close Up when he starred as their lead in their TV commercial with Barbie Almalbis.

Sam and Pinoy Big Brother

In July of 2005, a phenomenal show hit Philippine TV – Pinoy Big Brother. This show featured 12 men and women from different walks of life. However, Sam was not part of the original 12. His break came when one of the contestants volunteered to leave the house for an urgent matter with her family. The show immediately held another audition in order to find a replacement. Milby was encouraged to audition by his then friend and current manager, Erickson Raymundo. Though unfamiliar with the show prior to his audition, he won the favor of the panel of judges and bested 200 plus others. The next day, he was informed of the spot he won in the Big Brother house. In the Big Brother house, he won the affection of many Filipinos with his shyness but obvious pleasant character. But his shyness was often mistaken for alienation, something that his “housemates” had to confront him with. He also had his share of controversy as only days after he entered the house, he found himself in a situation with one of the ladies during his welcome party. And this was of course viewed on national TV, thus prompting the government regulatory board to step in and suspend the show for a day. Yet this did not take away the favor that Sam had already gained from the Filipino viewers. With his dedication to complete tasks and build genuine friendships with his housemates, he became one of the most well-endeared housemates. Some of the challenges he endured in the house were tasks that provided very little time for them to be accomplished. He memorized and sang the Philippine National Anthem overnight – a feat for someone who had almost zero knowledge of Tagalog. He was able to display some of his athletic skills on tasks that were physically demanding. When the housemates were asked to put up a mini show inside the house, Sam was able to share some of his compositions. All these songs however, were in English. With the help of some of the housemates, he translated one of his best love songs and performed it with Say Alonzo, his Big Brother housemate. This display of talent wowed so many audiences and made him and his song an instant hit. Unknowingly, he launched his career in showbusiness and one of the biggest hit songs of 2005 – Magmahal Muli.

He was evicted after 49 days. Yet this display of talent and apparent good looks may have been the very reason why he got evicted. Rumors circulated on the day of his eviction about fans deliberately not voting for him to get him evicted. They could not wait for Mr. Milby to come out and join mainstream showbusiness.

Career Development: 2005-Present

The closing of the door in Kuya’s house opened so many more other doors of opportunities for Milby. Today Sam has a platinum album, a budding film career, a regular spot in ASAP ’06, other high rating TV guestings and another hit movie in the making.

Recording Artist

In February 2006, Milby released his first solo effort aptly titled Sam Milby. The album was repackaged and re-released in August 2006 to add There's More (Centrum Song), the theme song to his Centrum endorsement spots. It was certified platinum in March 2006.

Actor

February 14th, 2006 marked the beginning of Milby's movie career. Starring alongside the love team of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo, "Close to You" opened to amazing reviews and grossed in excess of P120,000,000 in the Philippine Box Office.
On August 30th, 2006 You Are The One, the long awaited film starring Milby and Toni Gonzaga, opened to outstanding reviews. Milby's popularity extends to the United States as the film was screened throughout the country beginning on September 15th, 2006.
Milby's next project is a Filipino primetime soap entitled Maging Sino Ka Man. The first episode of the series premiered on October 6th, 2006.

Model

Milby was a commercial model for Close-Up toothpaste and a print ad model for Maalox. He is now a print ad model for Bench, a major clothing company.
Milby has endorsement deals with some of the biggest companies and brands in the Philippines. His current endorsement and sponsorship deals include, but are not limited to, Close Up, Centrum, Jollibee, Bench, SMART, Hawk, Aspen, Unisilver Time, Executive Optical, and Dermablend Papaya Orange Soap. His latest endorsement was Nescafe.
His sponsorship lineup boasts the support of Belo Medical Group, Essensuals Toni & Guy, Gold's Gym, GBX

Personal Life

Milby has been linked with fellow Filipina actress and recording artist Toni Gonzaga. The two have been rumored to be dating since 2005. Milby has also been linked with Maging Sino Ka Man co-star Anne Curtis, although Curtis has denied any relationship.

TV/Movie Appearances
Pinoy Big Brother (Reality TV Game Show, 2005)
as himself - the 13th Housemate
ASAP (Concert TV Show, 2005 - present)
Segment: Sam Sessions
Close To You (Movie, Jan 2006)
as Lance Miller
Your Song (TV Series, Feb 2006)
Episode: I’ve Fallen in Love
as Stephen
Gudtaym (Variety Show, Mar 2006) as himself