Gloria Lerma Yatco (June 22, 1922 – August 25, 2019), better known by her stage name Mona Lisa, was a Filipina 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. The film, directed by Carlos Vander Tolosa, is also remembered because Mona Lisa's appearance made history as she became 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), in which she plays the mother of the character interpreted by a then promising talent and rising star, Charo Santos. Her last movie, Mother Ignacia, in which she plays a nun in a Catholic church, was released in 1998. A book on her life and career in show business written by her granddaughter, Mona Lisa: A Portrait (From the Memoirs of a Grandmother), was published in 2013 by ABS-CBN Publishing Inc.

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

Television

Awards and nominations