Maria Antonieta Pons (November 6, 1922 in Havana, Cuba – August 20, 2004 in Mexico City) was a Cuban-born Mexican film actress and dancer. She was the first actress in the Rumberas films in the 1940s and 1950s, in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Career María Antonieta Pons began her career as a dancer in Cuba in numerous theaters and night clubs. When she was 16, she met Spanish actor and film director Juan Orol, who became her partner in various dance competitions on the island. After becoming Orol's wife, he took her to Mexico so she could act in films. María Antonieta Pons debuted in the Cinema of Mexico in the film Siboney (1938). After her debut in this film, Maria Antonieta performed with Orol in international dance tours in the United States, particularly in New York and Chicago. Towards the end of 1943, Pons returned to film, invited by the producer Guillermo Calderon to act in the film Noches de ronda, along with the actors Susana Guizar and Ramon Armengod. In the same year, she performed in the film Red Konga beside Pedro Armendáriz. Eventually, Pons returned to Orol's films with Cruel destino. While still an employee of Orol, Pons began shooting other films with other directors. Highlights from these films are ¡Viva mi desgracia! (1944), with Pedro Infante; Balajú (1944), along with Katy Jurado; and Rosalinda (1945), with Rafael Baledón, among others. Her last film with Orol was Pasiones tormentosas (1946). After her break with Orol, Pons was hired by film producer Gregorio Wallerstein. Under the guidance of Wallerstein, she filmed movies like La reina del trópico (1946); La vida íntima de Marco Antonio y Cleopatra (1946), with the Argentine actor Luis Sandrini and directed by Roberto Gavaldón; La sin ventura (1947); Ángel o demonio (1947) and The Well-paid (1948), among others. In 1949, she performed in the second film version of La mujer del puerto (the first version was realized by the actress Andrea Palma in 1934), directed by Tito Davison. Pons met her second husband, the actor and director Ramón Pereda in 1950, when he contracted her to film El ciclón del Caríbe. Pons and Pereda married soon after. With Pereda as director, Pons made films like La reina del mambo (1950), María Cristina (1950), La niña popoff (1952) and Casa de perdición (1954), among others. In 1952 she joined the Brazilian market with