Tongolele boosted the success of the
Exóticas, a group of
vedettes that caused sensation in Mexico in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although other vedettes appeared and became popular at the time (such as "Kalantán", "Bongala" and
Su Muy Key), none reached the levels of popularity of
Tongolele. Yolanda was baptized by Mexican journalist Carlos Estrada Lang as "The Queen of Tahitian Dances", as each night she congregated a wide male audience who adored her perfect silhouette and feline movements that marked an era in Mexico. As a guest, she starred in
El rey del barrio (1949) and ''
Kill Me Because I'm Dying! (1951) and the musical Música de siempre'' (1956). In 1971, Tongolele played in the Mexican-American co-production
Isle of the Snake People. In the film, she appeared alongside the American actor
Boris Karloff. The plot of the film was located on a small island in the middle of the ocean where some beautiful young women are transformed into blue-faced man-eating zombies. Tongolele played the role of
Kalea, the dancer with the snake. In the mid-1960s,
CBS recorded a disc titled "Tongolele sings for you", which included 10 songs. With the rise of Mexico City's nightlife in the 1970s and the rise of the vedettes, Tongolele resumed her career in nightclubs and movies, as well as appearing on television shows. In 1984 she debuted in
telenovelas in a special performance in the melodrama
La pasión de Isabela. In 2001, she reappeared on Mexican television in the telenovela
Salomé. Between 2011 and 2013, Tongolele participated in the musical stage play
Perfume of Gardenia. ==Personal life and death==