Our Neighbors: Rachel Wolfe-Spitaletta, a Celebrated Artist Who Found a New Life and Raised a Family in Oakland

This story is about Rachel Wolfe-Spitalettta, an Oakland resident who was born in Bangkok, Thailand, of a Filipino mother and a German-Austrian father who had met in Japan.  Rachel grew up in Manilla, capital of the Philippines, then a country of 34 million people.   

Her mother, Annie Brazil, was a celebrated vocal artist in the Philippines.  Annie and her children lived a life of comfort.  But when Annie’s marriage ended, life in Manilla was very hard for the fatherless family.   In those days, Manilla was a city in a third-world country. 

“My mother sang in clubs at night to support our family.   Life was an up-and-down affair.”

 At 14, while attending high school by day, Rachel, who inherited her mother’s talents, also began appearing in the clubs of Manilla.  She sang songs from the 30’s and 40’s, then began singing a more modern repertoire.

“My mother was never a stage mother.  She actually tried to discourage me from entering that life.  But it was in my genes, I guess.”

At age 16, Rachel began entering beauty pageants and won “Miss Young Philippines” which was nationally televised.

“With this title, I became more well known. I became a young celebrity with an on-camera personality.  I had a talent for writing and singing.  Then I was offered an opportunity to join a noontime TV variety show. And from there I began acting in daytime soaps.  That gave me national celebrity.   I was doing commercials for Coca Cola and General Electric.  Eventually, I went into movies.  I became more and more well-known.”

In 1987, she met and became engaged to a Filipino-American medical student. 

“I was a hopeless romantic and I followed my heart.   I was young and I did not analyze or think ahead.  I thought I knew everything.  I left the celebrity behind for a new life in America when I married in 1988.”

Early married life to a medical resident in their first home in Albany included a job in a gourmet food shop.

“I went from stardom to making $5.50 an hour so that I could experience a new life.”

A son was born in 1992.  Eventually, the couple and their baby moved to Manhattan’s East Side.  With marriage and motherhood, Rachel led a busy life. 

“But doctors are married to their careers.” 

Eventually the stresses of this life took their toll on the marriage, and the marriage ended.  

Rachel took a job working with Polo and in her free time began writing songs about her past life which were recorded in New York.  She met John Spitaletta while attending a media event in New York, a young New Jersey man who had studied at New York University’s film school.  They began a relationship. 

John knew the entertainment industry was always beckoning Rachel and supported her return to the Philippines to launch her album.  She arrived in Manilla to a great response.  She even signed a contract to make movies.  But Rachel was worried that a trans-Pacific relationship with John would not survive.  When John flew to Manilla and proposed, Rachel made her choice.   They married in 1997, and eventually came to Oakland.  For the second time in her life, she had turned her back on celebrity. 

Eventually, Rachel and John had three sons, and with the son from her first marriage and her mother, they became a family of seven living in Oakland’s Reserve.

During the ensuing 22 years, Rachel has traveled to the Philippines and Europe to promote songs and make appearances.  She was and still is an icon.   But the journeys to and from Manilla kept her away from home for long stretches while her husband and mother were tending to home and family.  She realized her family needed her presence, and, so, for a third time, her artistic pursuits had to be thrust into the background of her life.

The marriage has endured.  They are a happy and loving family. Over the years Rachel has continued to write songs.  Annie Brazil, her mother, was often in New York City over the years to sing her songs to Filipino-Americans who loved her.  John works in the world of business.  Two sons are in college now, one son is a talented rapper and has a contract with producers in the music business, and one son is in high school.  She and John cared for Rachel’s mother, who passed away a few months ago.  They have also been attentive to the needs of John’s fragile parents.

“Underneath it, I am more traditional…I have stayed at home and had quality time with my family.  I have no regrets.  We grew together, not apart. I took my life for granted, but how do you know the right decision? You try to do the best you can.”

For the past three years Rachel has worked for the YMCA in Wyckoff and has enjoyed the work of greeting members and being part of a team.  But the calls from the Filipino entertainment industry have not stopped. 

The time when her sons step into the world on their own is getting closer and Rachel is pondering her own future with every passing day`.

“My mother never gave up hope for a better life for her children.  My husband and I have worked hard to give that to our sons. I taught my children to follow their dreams.   Like the words in the song, ‘What could have been and should have been,’ have come true, and I am saying to myself, ‘What now? What now,’ because I’m not done yet.’”