Who was Tongolele? Real life and career explored as iconic actress dancer from Mexico's Golden Era passes away at 93

Dancer and actress Tongolele, 93, whose real name was Yolanda Montes, passed away on February 16, 2025. Yolanda was a part of several Mexican films over the years such as Nocturne of Love, Chucho the Mended, and The Panthera Women.

Apart from her acting, Tongolele’s dance moves made her a popular face among the public. Although the artist was heavily criticized by some people for her style, she managed to accumulate a huge fanbase.

The tribute (Image via X/cultura_mx)

The news of Yolanda’s demise was first disclosed by Mexico’s secretary of culture on Tuesday, February 18. The tribute post on X included a black-and-white photo of Montes, and apart from recalling Yolanda’s contributions over the years, the caption, after being translated to English, also reads in part:

“Her stage presence and unique style established her as a benchmark in Mexican entertainment. May she rest in peace.”

Although the circumstances leading to Yolanda’s death are yet to be confirmed, netizens expressed their grief on different platforms as soon as they heard the news. However, a report by El Universal stated that Tongolele was in Puebla at the time of death and that she was suffering from a few health issues for years, including Alzheimer’s, leading to her retirement in 2015.

The same year, she was awarded by the Senate for contributing to the popularity of Mexican culture around the world. She was also a recipient of the Agustin Lara Medal, as per Excelsior.

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Tongolele worked in theatre for a brief period until she expanded her career to films and television

According to Yolanda’s bio on IMDb, she was born to a Spanish and Swedish father and her mother was English and French. She began pursuing dance as a profession at the age of 15 when she came to Mexico, and this also led to the emergence of exotic dancers in the city.

Excelsior also stated that an album, titled Tongolele Sings For You, was released by CBS during the mid-60s, and had 10 songs. Apart from dancing, she was also interested in sculpting and painting.

While speaking to the Associated Press in 2014 about her dancing career, Yolanda said that she never wanted to become famous and added:

“I didn’t even realize that I was a star of the show, I didn’t even know I was successful, I was just happy dancing.”

Yolanda initially used to dance in nightclubs and later joined theatre, which helped her become a part of the entertainment industry. She made her acting debut with the drama film, Nocturne of Love, and continued appearing in films such as Kill Me Because I’m Dying!, Chucho the Mended. Las fabulosas del reventon, and more.

Tongolele had only two TV shows in her credits, including La pasion de Isabela and Salome. Her final film as an actress was the comedy-drama, El fantastico mundo de Juan Orol, which came out back in 2012.

According to Excelsior, she was a mother of two children, Ruben and Ricardo, born from her marriage to Cuban Joaquin Gonzalez during the ‘50s. The duo was together until Cuban passed away in 1996.

As per Mabumbe, Tongolele was reportedly in a relationship with the late singer and actor Vicente Fernandez, who died in 2021.