Tongolele

The most famous exotic dancer in America.

Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes (b. Yolanda Ivonne Montes Farrington, January 3, 1932, Spokane, Washington) is an exotic dancer and actress of the Cinema of Mexico. In Mexico she is considered the seminal "rumbera" and ex´tic dancer along Kalantán and Su Muy Key.

Tongolele became a professional dancer when she was only 15 years old. Her father was Spanish/Swedish, her mother French/English and her maternal grandmother was of Tahitian descent.

She starred in several films from the 1940s through the 1980s but most people remember her from the classic 1971 film Isle of the Snake People starring Boris Karloff in one of his last roles. Tongolele is still active in television, theatre, and nightclubs. She is still well known in Spain and Latin America.
This article about a Mexican actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-01-19 10:39 ]

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-01-19 10:39 ]

From the "Exotica girl" thread:

On 2009-06-01 18:03, bigbrotiki wrote:
...and now, withhold your feeble and confused notions for a moment, and behold the Exotica girl power of TONGOLELE !:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs5PHyTF1u8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81l-XuspWOo&feature=related

...y una mas, la exotica Tongolele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_2GOYo1N0&feature=related

Mahalo to DeSoto Brown :)

Link doesn't work anymore. Videos have been removed.
Update please.

¡Viva Tiki! Zeta is specialized in the reasearch, study and preservation of Tiki culture in Latin countries.

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-01-21 22:38 ]

The panther goddess

Revista Somos

Tongolele special edition

I read in the book "Los Dueños De La Noche" by Cristina Pacheco about 1950's Mexico City's artists and bohemia that Tongolele's all time debut was in The Tropics in the U.S.A.
Which of The Tropics? I don't know yet... But there HAS to be a picture somewhere...

I always thought that Tongolele inspired the classic Mexican comic character Rarotonga, or viceversa. But it's only my theory.

From the "exotica girl thread"

On 2009-06-01 20:51, Formikahini wrote:

On 2009-06-01 18:03, bigbrotiki wrote:
...and now, withhold your feeble and confused notions for a moment, and behold the Exotica girl power of TONGOLELE !:

Holey MOLEY!!

I've seen photos of her as an older gal, and only knew that she was "an old Mexican movie star." Little did I know of these gems out there! Thanks indeed, Desoto Brown!
She fits everything in the bill: raven-tressed, come-hither stare, tassels, conga drums and a VOLCANO! So what if she was born in Spokane - she moved to Mexico and became a sultry Latina as fast as she could!

Long live La Tongolele!!!

On 2010-01-19 10:38, Zeta wrote:
The most famous exotic dancer in America.

Famous ? Yes. Most famous ? That'd probably go to Lili St. Cyr or Gypsy Rose Lee. Even so, Tongolele's nothing to dismiss.

On 2010-06-23 23:30, Baron von Tiki wrote:

On 2010-01-19 10:38, Zeta wrote:
The most famous exotic dancer in America.

Famous ? Yes. Most famous ? That'd probably go to Lili St. Cyr or Gypsy Rose Lee. Even so, Tongolele's nothing to dismiss.

Those two dancers you mention Mr. Baron where burlesque acts (according to wikipedia). Besides, Togolele was and still is famous in all America. North America, Central America and South America too. That name, "The most famous" is how she used to be called, not by me, but by everyone... And how she sold her act. Did those two dancers you mention where ever called "The most famous exotic dancer in America"? I don't think so. But thanks for the feedback anyway.

On 2010-06-24 08:26, Zeta wrote:

On 2010-06-23 23:30, Baron von Tiki wrote:

On 2010-01-19 10:38, Zeta wrote:
The most famous exotic dancer in America.

Famous ? Yes. Most famous ? That'd probably go to Lili St. Cyr or Gypsy Rose Lee. Even so, Tongolele's nothing to dismiss.

Those two dancers you mention Mr. Baron where burlesque acts (according to wikipedia). Besides, Togolele was and still is famous in all America. North America, Central America and South America too. That name, "The most famous" is how she used to be called, not by me, but by everyone... And how she sold her act. Did those two dancers you mention where ever called "The most famous exotic dancer in America"? I don't think so. But thanks for the feedback anyway.

I know "burlesque" means something different in Europe but, in America, "burlesque" and "exotic dancer" mean pretty much the same thing: a strip tease act. So, Tongolele was pretty much considered one of the same ilk as Lili St. Cyr, Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm, and even Bettie Page.

As for the phrase "The most famous exotic dancer in America:" That's likely an old carny trick used on posters, flyers, and tickets to promote her performances. Everyone in America used tricks like this to gather a paying crowd. It doesn't necessarily mean it was true. It could have been but fame is so hard to calculate, an act could use the phrase without having to prove it.

Perhaps Tongolele has greater cache in other countries; I don't know. But I would still assert that she was not the most famous in America. Let's put it this way: I'm 40 years old and I heard the names "Gypsy Rose Lee" and "Lili St. Cyr" while I was still a teenager and the name "Bettie Page" in my early 20s. And this was decades after all of them had retired and burlesque itself was dead. I'd never heard of Tongolele until I'd joined this forum.

But none of this really matters. Everybody has their favorites and level-of-fame really doesn't make a difference to the fans.