Maria A. Pons, 82; Starred in ‘Rumbera’ Films of ‘40s and ‘50s
Maria Antonieta Pons, 82, a Cuban-born actress who helped define the 1940s tropical dancer movie genre known as rumbera, died Friday at a Mexico City hospital of natural causes.
The Havana native had made her home in Mexico for more than six decades.
Pons performed in more than 50 motion pictures, including the rumberas “Noche de Ronda” in 1942 and “Mujer del Puerto” in 1949. She also danced in stage productions, including shows at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles. She played herself in the 1979 film “Mexico of My Loves.”
The actress was one of half a dozen or so stars whose extravagant costumes and dance numbers earned them the nickname “Tropical Queens” and created a style of films that lasted into the 1950s.
Among her contemporaries were Ninon Sevilla, Mary Esquivel, Amalia Aguilar and Rosa Carmina.
The rumbera genre utilized heartbreaking stories about seductive, fallen women, punctuated by wild musical and dance scenes in the nightclubs they haunted.
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