Anita Linda was born Alice Buenaflor Lake in Pasay City, Manila, Philippines. Her parents were James Lake, an American mining engineer, and Gorgonia Buenaflor of Iloilo. She married actor Fred Cortes , with whom she has a son, actor Fred Cortes Jr. . She attended Polo Elementary School and graduated from Good Shepherd Convent High School. Before WWII, while watching a stage show at the Avenue Theater starring Leopoldo Salcedo , Lopito , among others, Alice, then a teenager remembers being called backstage by director Lamberto V. Avellana and being asked if she wanted to become an actress. There must have been something in her that the renowned director saw as she sat watching the show. She demurred that being Visayan she couldn't speak Tagalog. The director, nevertheless, told her to report for rehearsals for the next show and when she didn't appear had her fetched. This is how she became a stage actress and later a movie actress.
Was often paired with Ramon D'Salva , Jose Padilla Jr. , Fred Santos and Eddie Del Mar in the early stages of her career.Anita Linda received the Natatanging Gawad Urian ( Lino Brocka Lifetime Achievement Award) from the Urian body, 1981; the Ulirang Artista (Model Actor) Award, in 1988; and the Gawad CCP sa Sining, in 1994.Anita Linda received the Pambansang Akademya para sa Telebisyon, Agham, at Sining (PATAS) Award, for Outstanding Single Performance by An Actress, for her performance in the TV drama anthology "Huwaran (1976)," entitled "Lata, Kariton at Karton".In October 1950, when she was the top actress at Premiere Productions, Linda's sister Mamey was murdered in a robbery attempt at the home they had shared; Linda herself was unharmed after she and her nieces had locked themselves in a bedroom to evade the burglars.