María del Rosario Mendoza Chávez (stage name Rossy Mendoza; 6 June 1945 – 29 December 2023) was a Mexican vedette, actress, dancer, and singer. During the 1970s–1980s, she was one of the highest grossing artists in the

Mexican sex comedy Mexican sex comedies, commonly known as ficheras films or sexicomedias, are films in the comedy genre of the Mexican cinema industry. In this subgenre, storylines typically revolve around themes of sexploitation and Mexploitation. Films are m ...

film genre.

Biography

Rossy Mendoza was born on 6 June 1945 in Vícam, one of eight

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...

villages in the south of the Mexican state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

. She began her career in the mid-1960s when she was still a teenager, slowly making a name for herself in the entertainment industry by performing in the main cabarets of Sonora. She also appeared in well known Mexican magazines including ''Cinelandia'', ''Cine mundial'' and ''Siempre''. In the late 1960s her physique became athletic and voluptuous, in contrast to the slimness it had in her early years, and she had cosmetic surgery on her nose to improve her facial appearance. In 1964 she made her first appearance at the Teatro Lírico in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where other prominent figures such as

Tin Tan Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), best known by his ring name El Santo (English language, English: "The Saint"), was a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador Wrestling mask, enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestlin ...

and Sergio Corona performed. In 1968 she joined the cast of the cabaret El Capri, where she worked alongside vedettes such as Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes and the Argentine

Zulma Faiad Zulma Aurora Faiad (born February 21, 1944, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine vedette and actress. Biography Zulma Faiad grew up with her sister Virginia Faiad in the bosom of an Argentine middle-class family. Her father was Jacinto ...

. She appeared in several television programmes such as ''Sabadito Alegre'', with Paco Malgesto, where she remained for several months. In 1970 she worked with the comedian Adalberto Martínez (better known as "

Resortes Adalberto Martínez Chávez (25 January 1916 – April 4, 2003), better known in the entertainment world as ''Resortes'', was a renowned Mexican actor. Known primarily for his talent as a comedian, he was also a dancer. His stage name is Spanish ...

") in ''El Tenorio Comico'' at the Blanquita Theater in Mexico City. She appeared there for many seasons, accompanied by an orchestra and a ballet of 18 dancers. Her performances alternated with singers such as

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

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, Mike Laure, Sonia Lopez and

Dámaso Pérez Prado Dámaso is a Spanish masculine given name. The name is equivalent to that of Pope Damasus I in English. The name also exists in Italian as Damaso, though it is uncommon. People * Dámaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet * Dámaso Berenguer, 1s ...

. At the same time she was hired by the Vallejo Family to perform in ''La Caravan Corona'', in which she appeared from 1971 to 1982. This consisted of groups of stars from the show that traveled throughout Mexico and in which she performed with acts such as Los Polivoces (Eduardo Manzano and Enrique Cuenca),

Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; 7 January 1950 – 28 August 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer-songwriter and actor. Colloquially Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, ...

Amalia Mendoza Amalia Mendoza García (10 July 1923 – 11 June 2001), nicknamed ''La Tariácuri'', was a Mexican singer and actress. "Échame a mi la culpa" and "Amarga navidad" were some of her greatest hits. Her best friend since her youth was Martha de Mi ...

and Los Rebeldes del Rock. In 1971 she began a successful season at the El Clóset nightclub, where she shared top billing with the vedette

Olga Breeskin Olga Breeskin Torres (born September 22, 1951) is a Mexican violinist, dancer and actress. She was one of the most famous Mexican vedettes in 1970s and 1980s. Since her conversion to Christianity, she has only presented herself as a violinist. E ...

. She also ventured into the

fotonovela Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling using photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to in ...

s of the time and recorded some records. By the end of the 1970s she was already a big star in cabarets and nightclubs, earning the title of Supervedette or Primera Vedette. She headed the cabaret show ''Terraza Casino'', accompanied by the Hector Halal orchestra. She also worked at El Cadillac, El Rondinella, El Clóset, Las Galaxias, El Can Can and El Quid, among other places. Represented by her artistic agent, Lonka Becker, she made her film debut in 1970 with the actor

Gaspar Henaine Gaspar Henaine (6 January 1927 – 30 September 2011), more commonly known by his pseudonym Capulina, was a Mexican comedian, actor, singer, film producer, and screenwriter. He was best known for partnering with Marco Antonio Campos as the do ...

(known professionally as "Capulina") in the film ''Capulina contra los Vampiros''. In 1971 she appeared in the film ''El Siverguenza'' along with Mauricio Garcés. In her film career she appeared in more than 52 films with stars such as

Vicente Fernández Vicente Fernández Gómez (17 February 1940 – 12 December 2021) was a Mexican mariachi singer, actor and film producer. Nicknamed "Chente" (short for Vicente), "El Charro de Huentitán" (The Charro from Huentitán), "El Ídolo de México" (Th ...

, Andrés García, Jorge Rivero,

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and

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. In the theatre she acted in several comic plays, in which she was directed by Óscar Ortiz de Pinedo,

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, Jose Diaz Morales and others. Her first stage play was with the comedians Emilio Brillas and Polo Ortín. She toured Mexico in the play ''Elena para los miercoles'', with

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. Another of her more notable stage plays was ''La locura del sexo'' with Andrés García. On television she appeared in the

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''Yara'' with

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in 1979. She also took part in the popular television show ''Variedades de medianoche'' with

Manuel Valdés Fernando Manuel Alonso Gómez de Valdés y Castillo, also known as "El Loco" Valdés, (29 January 1931 – 28 August 2020) was a Mexican actor and comedian. A member of the Valdés family, he was the brother of Ramón Valdés, who portrayed Don ...

. In the 1990s her appearances were sporadic. In 1993 she returned to the Blanquita Theater, to appear on a bill with the dance band La Sonora Matancera. At the end of the decade she was diagnosed with cancer. In 1999, Mendoza took part in the theater show ''Las inolvidables de la noche'', in which the vedettes Amira Cruzat,

Wanda Seux Juana Amanda Seux Ramírez (3 January 1948 – 2 September 2020), better known as Wanda Seux, was a Paraguayan- Mexican vedette, dancer, and actress, who enjoyed a long career in film, television, and theatre in Mexico. Biography Wanda Seux was ...

, Grace Renat and Malú Reyes also appeared. Mendoza also modelled for photographers such as Nadine Markova and

Paulina Lavista Paulina Lavista (born 1 November 1945) is a Mexican photographer, noted for her controversial work which has tested the limits of the field. She is the daughter of a composer and a painter, beginning a career in modeling and cinema before mov ...

as well as the painter

José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...

. Other artists that have painted her include Ricardo Garcia Mora and Juan Buitimea, a member of the

indigenous people. In 2016 Mendoza, along with the vedettes Olga Breeskin,

Lyn May Lilia Guadalupe Mendiola Mayares (born 12 December 1952), better known by her stage name Lyn May, is a Mexican vedette, exotic dancer and actress. She was one of the most popular Mexican vedettes during the 1970s and 1980s, a popular sex symbo ...

and

Princesa Yamal Isabel Camila Masiero (born 1946), better known by her stage name Princesa Yamal, is an Argentine Mexicans, Argentine-Mexican Vedette (cabaret), vedette, actress and dancer. She was one of the most popular vedettes during the 1970s and 1980s in M ...

, was the subject of the Mexican documentary film '' Beauties of the Night'' directed by María José Cuevas. The Cuban musician Dámaso

Pérez Prado Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989) was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized the mambo in the 1950s.''On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture'' Louis A. Pérez Jr. - 2012 ...

composed the Mambo "The Waist of Rossy" in honor of her slim figure. Mendoza died from a heart attack on 29 December 2023, at the age of 78.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Rossy 1945 births 2023 deaths Burlesque performers Mexican vedettes Mexican film actresses Mexican television actresses Mexican female dancers Mexican women singers Actresses from Sonora People from Guaymas Municipality