Mona Lisa (actress)

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Lerma and the surname or paternal family name is Yatco.

Mona Lisa
Born	Gloria Lerma Yatco (1922-06-22)June 22, 1922 Tondo, Manila, Philippine Islands
Died	August 25, 2019(2019-08-25) (aged 97) Manila, Philippines
Other names	Fleur de Lis, Gloria Guinto
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1930–2005
Awards	FAMAS Best Supporting Actress 1975 Insiang Gawad Urian 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award

Gloria Lerma Yatco (June 22, 1922 – August 25, 2019), better known by her stage name Mona Lisa, was a Filipino film actress. Known by the screen name Fleur de Lis before and during World War II, she was one of the renowned Filipina actresses of the late 1930s and 1940s.

Career

She was paired with Ely Ramos in LVN Pictures' Giliw Ko, along with LVN's first leading actress Mila del Sol and Fernando Poe, directed by Carlos Vander Tolosa, where she made history as the first actress to appear in a Filipino film wearing a bathing suit.

After WWII, she came back to the limelight as Mona Lisa, top billed with Teddy Benavidez in Kalbario ng Isang Ina (1946) and Siyudad sa Ilalim ng Lupa (1949) opposite Fernando Royo.

Mona Lisa paired with some of the Philippines' finest actors of the 1940s such as Ricardo Brillantes in Batang Lansangan, Pag-ibig at Patalim (1948) opposite Teddy Benavidez and Hanggang Langit (1947) with the Philippine actor known as "The Great Profile" Leopoldo Salcedo.

In the mid-40s, Mona Lisa paired several times with action/drama actor Fernando Poe in movies like Intramuros (1946), The 13th Sultan and Sagur, both in 1949.

Before the war struck Manila, Mona Lisa paired with famous debonair actor of the 40s Serafin Garcia in the movie Tinangay ng Apoy in 1940 and second lead only to the Philippines' newest screen siren of the early 1940s Paraluman opposite Fernando Poe.

Mona Lisa portrayed a war-shock civilian in 1952's Ulila ng Bataan opposite Sampaguita Pictures girl wonder Tessie Agana and Buhay Alamang (Paglukso'y Patay), along with Sampaguita actor Fred Montilla combined with premier actress Anita Linda also in 1952.

She resumed her film career in 1970 after an absence of nearly two decades, and remained active in the industry where she got a Best Supporting Actress Award for Insiang, and another Best Supporting Actress Award for the Metro Manila Film Festival in 1977 consecutively, where she portrayed a sex hungry mother of Insiang played by Hilda Koronel.

Some of her films from the mid to late 70s were as a supporting actress to lead actors such as Rio Locsin in Risa Jones: Showgirl! (1979), Atsay (1978) with Nora Aunor, Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978) with Vilma Santos and Bembol Roco, Mananayaw (1978) with Chanda Romero and Phillip Salvador, Hindi Kami Damong Ligaw (1976) with Charito Solis, and Itim (1976) with a promising talent and rising star Charo Santos.

Her last movie Mother Ignacia was released in 1998, in which she plays a nun in a Catholic church.

A book on her life and career in show business, Mona Lisa: A Portrait (From the Memoirs of a Grandmother), was published in 2013 by ABS-CBN Publishing Inc. Her granddaughter was the author.

Death

Lisa died in her sleep on August 25, 2019, at her home in Manila, three years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, at the age of 97.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1930	Bago lumubog ang araw
1937	Ang pagbabalik
1938	Walang pangalan
	Mga sugat ng puso
	Makiling
	Dasalang perlas
	Bukang liwayway
	Bahay kubo
	Ang magmamani
1939	Giliw Ko
1940	Dilim at liwanag
	Tinañgay na Apoy
	Datu-talim
1941	Paraluman
	Luksang bituin
	Puting dambana
	Palaris
	Bayani ng buhay
	Ang viuda alegre
1942	Princesa Urduja
1946	Intramuros: The Rape of a City
	Kalbario ng Isang Ina
	Barong-barong
1947	Bisig ng batas
	Hanggang langit
	Maria Kapra
1948	Batang lansangan
	Matimtiman
	Pag-ibig at Patalim
	Sunset Over Corregidor
	Outrages of the Orient
	Krus ng digma
	Forbidden Women	Princess Apamena
	Beast of the East
1949	Siyudad sa ilalim ng lupa
1949	Sagur
1949	The 13th Sultan
1949	Naglahong tala
1950	Sundalong talahib
1951	Dugo ng Bataan
1952	Buhay alamang
1952	Ulila ng Bataan
1953	Blood of Bataan	Lolita Zalasar
1970	Romantika
1970	Romantiko
1974	La Paloma: Ang kalapating ligaw	Soledad
1974	Isang gabi... Tatlong babae!
1975	Mga uhaw na bulaklak
1975	Araw-araw, gabi-gabi
1976	Hindi kami damong ligaw
1976	Uhaw na Bulaklak, Part II
1976	Insiang	Tonya
1976	Itim	Aling Pining
1977	Electrika kasi, eh!
1978	Mananayaw
1978	Pagputi ng uwak... Pag-itim ng tagak	Diding
1978	Atsay	Lola
1979	Sino'ng pipigil sa pagpatak ng ulan?
1979	Risa Jones; Showgirl
1980	Tanikala
1981	Alfredo Sebastian
1982	Oro, Plata, Mata	Lola Desta
1982	Cain and Abel	Senora Pina
1983	Hulihin ang ... mandurugas
1983	Minsan pa nating hagkan ang nakaraan	Tia Salud
1984	Soltero
1984	This Is My Country	Ina ni Turing
1986	Napakasakit, kuya Eddie
1987	Paano kung wala ka na?	Mrs. Ledesma
1987	1 + 1 = 12 + 1
1989	Barbi: Maid in the Philippines
1989	Babangon ako't dudurugin kita
1991	Umiyak pati langit	Doña Elena
1991	Huwag mong salingin ang sugat ko	Mrs.Regala
1994	Chop-Chop Lady: The Elsa Castillo Story	Adelina Santos
1996	Pagsubok sa hirap at ginhawa
1998	Mother Ignacia-Ang uliran	Mother Ignacia (elder years)
2003	Kiskisan	Bining
2005	Camiling Story (Last Movie appearance)	Jenny

Television

Year	Title	Role	Remarks	TV Network
1988	A Dangerous Life	Francisca Monzon
1992	Maalaala Mo Kaya		Episode: "Dapithapon"	ABS-CBN
2000			Episode: "Tirador"
	Kakabakaba			GMA Network
2001	GMA Telesine: Pariwara			GMA Network
	Maalaala Mo Kaya		Episode: "Gitara"	ABS-CBN

Awards and nominations

Year	Award-giving body	Category	Work	Result
1976	Metro Manila Film Festival	Best Supporting Actress	Insiang	Won
1977	FAMAS Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Insiang	Won
1983	FAMAS Awards	Best Actress	Cain at Abel	Nominated
1999	Gawad Urian Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won
2005	Golden Screen Awards	Gawad Lino Brocka Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won

External links

• Mona Lisa at IMDb