[citation needed] He rose to become the top stuntman of Premiere, often doubling for more established stars—riding horses, falling from cliffs, getting shot at by villains.
It was in the FPJ Productions, Sierra Madre (1963) that Poe decided to give Jess the full star treatment—from a more prominent billing to major publicity exposures.
It was Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions picked him up and eventually made him into a superstar in the movie “Kardong Kidlat” (1964) which became such a smashing success at the box office tills.
1964 proved to be a bright and busy year for Jess, appearing in films like Bilis at Tapang with Romeo Vasquez and Vendetta Brothers with Joseph Estrada and Eddie Garcia.
His namesake, Jess Lapid Jr. also became a movie actor, and a film and fight director, and also now currently a scuba diving instructor.
Jess Jr. capped his career with a Best Supporting Actor award for the movie “Lumayo Ka Man Sa Akin” in 1993.
Persistent reports linked the incident to another Kapampangan actress, Nancy Roman, also his leading lady.
Simaron Brothers was shown posthumously at the Globe Theater, and the blurb capitalized on his sensational death by touting his last movie as a “picture that will project the living image of Jess Lapid in the hearts of millions..”.