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Lyn May
Lyn May
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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 symbol, and one of the main stars of Ficheras cinema.

Key Information

Biography

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Early years

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May was born in Nuxco, Tecpan de Galeana, Guerrero, Mexico; her father had immigrated from China.[1] She was the eldest of five siblings and began working at the age of four.[2] She sold souvenirs to tourists and sweets made by her grandmother.[2] She also sold chewing gum at weddings in the villages near Acapulco.[2] She did not attend school since there were no schools in her village.[2]

At age 13, she worked as a waitress in a restaurant where she met a 40-year old sailor who promised to get her out of poverty.[2] He came to visit her every day for a month, allegedly brainwashing her.[2] They went to Mexico City, where he raped her in a hotel room, causing her to become pregnant.[2] She said that she was so ignorant at the time, she expected to give birth through her mouth. May's grandmother forced her to marry the man after she became pregnant; the marriage was illegal due to her age.[2] Her husband did not want children and beat May after the rape. After five years of marriage and the birth of two daughters, Lilia separated from her husband due to the domestic violence and sexual abuse.[3]

Career

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Lilia then moved to Acapulco, where she worked in the cabaret El Zorro, as a dancer and also worked as a waitress and in beauty salons to support her daughters.[3]

She worked at the Tropicana cabaret in Acapulco, where she performed with Germán Valdés ("Tin Tan").[4]

When she was approximately 17 years old, Lilia worked for television presenter Raul Velasco as a dancer in the program Siempre en Domingo. There, she danced with Olga Breeskin and learned to dance tribal, Hawaiian, and Tahitian dances. She was also pressured by Velasco to wear more revealing outfits, showing her underwear.[5][6]

In 1970, Lilia was hired by Enrique Lombardini, who at that time managed the Teatro Esperanza Iris. However, she was booed at first for not performing nude. A week later, Lilia performed her first nude, becoming a sensation among the male audience. Lombardini bestowed on her the pseudonym "Lyn May: The Goddess of Love".[6]

In 1974, filmmaker Alberto Isaac chose Lyn as one of the main protagonists of Tívoli, which portrays with nostalgia the nocturnal atmosphere of Mexico City in the 1940s and 1950s.[6] After the success of the film, May landed roles in Carnival Nights (1978), The Loving Ones (1979), and Spicy Chile (1983).

In 1991, she participated in the telenovela Yo no creo en los hombres, produced by Televisa.[7]

In 1998, May participated in the music video of the song Mr. P. Mosh by Plastilina Mosh.[8]

In 2016, May appeared in a music video of the song Si tu me quisieras by Mon Laferte.[9]

In 2016, May was featured in Beauties of the Night by María José Cuevas.[10]

As of 2021, May worked as a Tahitian dance instructor at the Plaza Caribe Hotel in Cancun, Mexico and gave performances on weekends.[10]

Since 2019, she has also appeared several times as a guest on the Univision television show El Gordo y La Flaca.[11]

Personal life

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May has said she had an affair with an unnamed former President of Mexico speculated to be José López Portillo, who also had an affair with, and later married, actress Sasha Montenegro.[4]

May married businessman Antonio Chi Su in 1988. They opened a Chinese restaurant on Avenida Bucareli in Mexico City. Chi Su was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004 and died in 2008; May inherited the restaurant.[6] She confirmed that after his death, she exhumated her husband's corpse and slept by it, attributing this act to deep grief.[12]

May married film producer Guillermo Calderón Stell in 2008 and was widowed in 2018.[6]

In August 2021, May announced that she was pregnant at 68 years old, reportedly by Markos D1, a 29-year old Mexican singer.[13] Markos later denied the pregnancy and any relationship, claiming it was a publicity stunt for a music video.[14][15]

Facial disfigurement

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In the 1990s, at the advice of a "friend" later accused of jealousy, May received facial injections of what she thought was collagen to maintain a youthful appearance but later learned was a combination of cooking oil and baby oil. No negative side effects were felt in the short term, but the procedure eventually resulted in serious abscess in her face. May underwent multiple surgeries to remove the foreign material but her face remains disfigured.[16]

Filmography

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Lyn May (born Liliana Mendiola Mayanes; December 12, 1952) is a Mexican vedette, actress, and singer of Chinese-Mexican descent, recognized as one of the leading figures in the Ficheras cinema genre and a prominent sex symbol in Mexican entertainment during the 1970s and 1980s. Born in Acapulco, Guerrero, she began her career as a nightclub dancer, leveraging her exotic beauty and provocative performances to gain fame in cabarets and subsequently in film. May starred in numerous erotic films characteristic of the Ficheras style, which emphasized sensuality and cabaret elements, solidifying her status as a cultural icon of that era's Mexican popular cinema. Her career has been marked by personal controversies, including severe facial disfigurement from unregulated cosmetic injections involving unapproved substances like cooking oil, allegedly administered by a jealous associate, necessitating multiple corrective surgeries and causing significant physical and emotional distress. Despite these challenges, she continued performing and maintained visibility in entertainment, including later ventures as a DJ, while navigating tabloid scrutiny over personal matters such as a disputed pregnancy announcement in the 2010s.

Early Life

Childhood and Family Background

Lyn May was born Mendiola Mayanes on December 16, 1952, in de , , , as the eldest of five siblings in a family claiming Chinese ancestry through immigrant forebears, though some reports assert fully Mexican parentage and grandparents. Her family resided in the impoverished La Mira neighborhood on a hillside overlooking the Pacific, where economic hardship necessitated early contributions from the children to household survival. From the age of six, May supported her family by selling necklaces, suntan oils, and souvenirs to on Acapulco's beaches alongside her siblings, reflecting the precarity of their circumstances amid the city's burgeoning . Formal education remained limited, as financial pressures prioritized labor over schooling; by age 13, she worked as a waitress in a local eatery to aid the household. These experiences in a coastal hub known for its and entertainment venues provided incidental exposure to performance culture, shaping her formative worldview without direct involvement in professional pursuits.

Entry into Entertainment

In the late , amid economic hardships and a desire for following an abusive early , Lyn May entered the entertainment industry as a nightclub dancer in . She began performing exotic dances at local venues, leveraging her natural physical appeal and self-taught rhythmic skills to secure initial gigs without prior formal training. Her debut stages included cabarets such as El Zorro, where provocative routines emphasizing sensuality and movement quickly drew audiences and promoters' notice. This period marked her honing of core performance techniques through repetitive appearances, prioritizing instinctive flair over structured . By the early 1970s, Lyn May transitioned from basic exotic dancing to emerging vedette positions in s, recruited by early impresarios who valued her unpolished and adaptability. These self-initiated steps, driven by necessity rather than , laid the groundwork for her stage presence, as she navigated competitive environments on raw talent alone.

Professional Career

Rise in Cabaret and Dance (1960s–1970s)

Lyn May commenced her career in during the late 1960s in , initially performing as a dancer in local nightclubs after her . She quickly advanced to routines, beginning when a businessman commissioned a that required her to remove her clothing onstage, a development she described as an "unconscious" but defining progression. By the early 1970s, May had relocated to , where she established herself in the vedette tradition through live performances emphasizing exotic dance numbers that integrated sensual with vigorous athletic elements. These acts, often incorporating , propelled her to local prominence in cabaret circuits, including revues at the Teatro Tívoli, and fostered collaborations with producer , with whom she maintained a decade-long relationship that influenced her stage productions. Her rising success yielded substantial earnings from these ephemeral stage appearances, enabling rapid and lifestyle elevation, as she later reflected on being astonished by the income generated solely from . This period solidified her reputation for innovative vedette performances amid the era's demanding system, which required versatility in movement and audience engagement to sustain notoriety before her pivot to cinema.

Dominance in Ficheras Cinema (1970s–1980s)

Lyn May emerged as a prominent figure in Mexico's ficheras cinema during the and , a low-budget genre of erotic comedies and dramas centered on the lives of dancers who engaged in transactional encounters with clients. These films typically featured vedettes like May in roles highlighting sensuality, musical numbers, and tropes of nightlife excess, redemption, and romantic entanglements, often produced rapidly to capitalize on theater attendance in urban centers. Her entry into this cinema was solidified with the 1975 release of Tívoli, where she portrayed Eva Candela, a role that propelled her integration into the industry and established her as a key performer amid the genre's proliferation. Throughout the decade, May starred in multiple ficheras productions, including Las ficheras: Bellas de noche II (1977), where she again embodied the of the alluring cabaret star, and Noches de cabaret (1978), contributing alongside her acting. These films, characterized by formulaic narratives of vice in Mexico City's nightlife districts, showcased her exotic appeal—drawing from her Chinese-Mexican heritage—and physical performances that aligned with the genre's emphasis on over narrative depth. By the early 1980s, she continued in titles like La casa que arde de noche (1985), maintaining her status as a within a corpus of over three dozen credited films, many within this niche. May's prominence in ficheras cinema reflected the genre's commercial viability in and broader Latin American markets, where her characters often drove audience draw through bold depictions of and culture, unencumbered by high production values. This phase marked her zenith as an icon of Mexican sexploitation, with roles reinforcing her vedette persona from live performances but adapted to celluloid's repeatable format. Her contributions helped sustain the ficheras wave, which peaked amid economic pressures favoring quick-turnaround entertainments, though specific box-office figures for individual titles remain undocumented in primary records.

Later Work in Film, Television, and Stage (1990s–Present)

Following the decline of the ficheras film genre in the late 1980s, Lyn May's cinematic output decreased significantly, with roles shifting toward supporting parts and reflective projects. She appeared in the 2016 documentary Bellezas de la noche, directed by María José Cuevas, which examined the lives and cultural role of Mexican vedettes from the 1970s and 1980s, including archival footage and interviews featuring May discussing her career trajectory. This project highlighted her adaptation to a medium that preserved rather than propelled new starring opportunities in feature films. May sustained professional visibility through occasional credits amid a pivot to live theater and promotional television spots. In 2022, she portrayed María de la Paz in the film Cerdo, a exploring rural Mexican life. The following year, 2023, saw her as a cabaretera in Grandes Hits, a touching on industry . These roles underscored her persistence in cinema despite market shifts away from erotic revues toward more narrative-driven stories. In recent years, May has revitalized her stage career, emphasizing her vedette heritage in contemporary productions. She joined the ensemble of Perfume de Gardenia, a theatrical blending mystery, passion, and elements, which premiered on August 10, 2024, under producer Omar Suárez. Performing alongside vedettes like Rosa Gloria Chagoyán, May earned praise for her flexibility, dance routines, and commanding presence, with audiences describing her as "impressive and unique" in live shows extending into , including performances in on September 26, 2025. This work demonstrates her evolution, incorporating modern staging while retaining core acrobatic and seductive elements from her earlier era, supplemented by active promotion via for bookings and guests.

Personal Life

Marriages, Relationships, and Family

Lyn May's first marriage occurred at age 14, arranged by her parents following her with a man 26 years her senior, described in her accounts as abusive and controlling. This union resulted in the birth of her first two daughters, though specific names and dates remain undisclosed in public records. The marriage ended amid reported , after which May prioritized her daughters' safety by relocating them abroad to shield them from media scrutiny and her high-profile career. Her third daughter was born from a subsequent relationship, bringing her total progeny to three daughters, all of whom May has kept largely out of the public eye to protect their privacy and distance them from her entertainment world. Family dynamics have included tensions, with May citing professional disapproval from at least one daughter regarding her vedette career, yet she has emphasized self-reliant support for their upbringing without consistent paternal involvement post-divorces. By 2022, her family had expanded to include five grandchildren—three granddaughters and two grandsons—though details on their lives or matters are not publicly documented. In 1989, May married Mexican-Chinese businessman Antonio Chi-Xuo, a partnership that lasted until his death from in 2008. She has spoken of this as her longest and most stable union, spanning nearly two decades of during which she balanced demands with family responsibilities. Following Chi-Xuo's passing, May wed Stell in 2011; he died the following year. May has publicly stated she entered eight marriages overall, often through civil or church ceremonies, but verifiable details beyond these are sparse, with earlier unions tied to her youth and later ones reflecting post- stability pursuits. Her relational history underscores a pattern of independence after widowhoods, funding family needs through her professional earnings without reliance on spousal support. A notable later relationship involved singer Markos D1, 38 years her junior, with whom May announced an and, in August 2021 at age 68, claimed a three-month ; Markos promptly denied both the paternity and any formal commitment, attributing the announcement to misunderstanding after a brief encounter. No child resulted, and the episode highlighted May's ongoing media with personal matters, though it did not alter her established family structure.

Health Challenges and Plastic Surgery

Lyn May underwent numerous cosmetic surgeries beginning in the to enhance her physical features in alignment with the exaggerated aesthetics demanded of vedettes in Mexican cabaret and cinema, including procedures on her lips, cheeks, and buttocks using fillers such as polymers. These interventions, often pursued for professional longevity, reflect her personal choice to maintain a youthful, voluptuous appearance amid industry pressures, though they carried inherent risks from less regulated practices prevalent at the time. A significant setback occurred in the early 1990s when May received unauthorized facial injections intended as Botox or fillers but consisting instead of a mixture including , , and , administered by an unqualified associate, leading to permanent lumps, inflammation, and that have persisted despite subsequent corrective efforts. This incident underscores the dangers of unregulated cosmetic procedures, as May later publicly warned others against seeking cheap, unverified treatments, emphasizing the irreversible damage from non-medical substances that migrate and cause chronic tissue reactions. In 2024, at age 72, May continued aesthetic enhancements, debuting a revised facial appearance following legitimate medical interventions aimed at mitigating prior damage, while maintaining an active exercise regimen to support overall health. By March 2025, amid reflections on peers' deaths from illnesses like kidney cancer, she expressed heightened awareness of her mortality, stating she felt she might be "next" despite reporting good current health, highlighting age-related vulnerabilities even for those pursuing aggressive anti-aging measures.

Controversies

Public Feuds and Statements

In October 2021, Lyn May publicly criticized the music video for J Balvin's collaboration "Perra" with , condemning its portrayal of women and Afro-descendants as degrading and misogynistic. Her statements aligned with broader backlash from figures including Colombia's , who described the video as "sexist, racist, machista, and misogynistic." In April 2022, Lyn May clashed with singer Yuri after the latter's comments on a television program were interpreted as dismissive of gay parenting and the LGBT+ community. May responded via social media and interviews, defending LGBT+ individuals and urging parents "not to be fools" but to support their gay children unconditionally, while telling Yuri to "know her place" in accepting societal progress on these issues. She emphasized her own support for the community, stating that rejection only causes harm. May has directed pointed critiques at other industry figures, such as in March 2023 when she described fellow vedette Lorena Herrera's theatrical costumes as "bien corriente" or cheaply made during a media appearance. In August 2023, she blamed audiences for enabling the "disrespectful and unfortunate" anti-Mexico remarks by group , arguing that excessive praise fosters entitlement. These exchanges, often amplified on , underscore May's tendency to challenge peers on professional standards and cultural attitudes. Such public statements have reinforced May's image as a candid, no-holds-barred veteran unafraid to critique industry norms, though they have also drawn accusations of divisiveness from detractors. For instance, a 2025 reconciliation with model followed mutual public barbs over attention-seeking, highlighting how her outspokenness can escalate then resolve feuds.

Betrayals and Medical Mishaps

Lyn May fell victim to a deliberate by a trusted associate driven by jealousy, who administered facial injections under the guise of cosmetic enhancement. The perpetrator substituted legitimate fillers with a toxic blend of , , and , exploiting May's confidence in informal procedures common in Mexico's circles. This betrayal occurred in the , amid the cutthroat rivalries of the vedette scene, where dancers and performers vied intensely for leading roles in cabarets and ficheras films, often fostering covert undermining tactics rooted in over and stardom. The injections triggered immediate adverse reactions, including painful lumps, widespread infections, and abscesses that disfigured May's face, compelling her to undergo repeated surgical interventions to extract the substances and mitigate scarring. Despite these efforts, residual oil deposits persisted, causing ongoing tissue damage and complicating further treatments, with from medical follow-ups confirming the irreversible nature of such biopolymer-like complications. The fallout extended to professional repercussions, as the visible alterations hindered her marketability in an industry prizing physical allure, underscoring how unchecked in competitive environments can yield tangible career . In recounting the incident publicly—most notably in a where she detailed the excruciating recovery process—May highlighted the betrayal's mechanics, attributing it to the perpetrator's resentment over her dominance in the era's hierarchy. She responded by advocating caution against unregulated , repeatedly warning of Mexico's lax enforcement on non-medical injectors, which permits pseudoprofessionals to operate without accountability and precipitate similar health crises. This stance reflects a broader in the vedette world, where prior documented envies—such as disputes over stage billing and romantic entanglements—eroded trusts, priming individuals for exploitative acts disguised as camaraderie.

Rumored Affairs and Scandals

Lyn May has faced longstanding rumors of a romantic liaison with former Mexican President José López Portillo during the late 1970s, with some media speculation attributing her rapid ascent in ficheras cinema and cabaret performances to such political connections, though these claims remain unsubstantiated by independent documentation beyond her own retrospective accounts. Similar unverified allegations have linked her to Luis Echeverría, another president from 1970–1976, which she has addressed in interviews by providing purported details while expressing personal embarrassment over associations with "crazy" or corrupt political figures, yet without corroborating evidence from official records or contemporaries. These speculations often portray her career advantages as resulting from leveraging physical appeal toward influential men, a narrative critiqued in entertainment reporting as emblematic of vedette dynamics but dismissed by May as oversimplifications of her talent and perseverance. In August 2021, at age 68, May announced a of three months via , igniting tabloid frenzy and public doubt due to her advanced age and lack of prior medical confirmation, with subsequent posts claiming possible twins before alleging a from turbulence. She later admitted the initial declaration was a deliberate "to laugh about something," amid denials from the purported father, singer Markos D1, who described any encounter as a one-off collaboration rather than a committed . This episode exemplified media exploitation of sensational personal claims, amplifying unverifiable details for clicks while underscoring toward self-reported scandals in .

Legacy and Reception

Achievements and Cultural Impact

Lyn May rose to prominence as a central figure in Mexico's cine de ficheras, starring in more than 20 films during the and that popularized the genre's blend of performances, , and eroticism. These productions, often featuring her in lead roles as vedettes, drew significant audiences and defined a niche of low-budget exploitation cinema that highlighted female performers in urban nightlife settings. Her extended engagements in venues like the Follies Bergère and other theaters solidified her status as a staple of live erotic entertainment, with routines that combined dance, song, and audience interaction to sustain popularity over decades. Lyn May's output metrics—spanning films, stage shows, and television appearances—underscore her productivity in an industry reliant on prolific releases and repeat performances. Culturally, she embodies the self-made vedette archetype, ascending from poverty and early labor in to emblematic representation of Mexican cabaret traditions amid a male-dominated sector. Her career influenced later performers by normalizing bold, unapologetic expressions of sensuality in public spectacles, contributing to the vedette's role as a symbol of resilience and spectacle in Mexican . This legacy persists through her recognition as one of the genre's most iconic exponents, with sustained public interest evidenced by media retrospectives and archival exhibits on vedette history.

Criticisms and Societal Debates

Lyn May's provocative roles as a vedette and in "ficheras" films have elicited debates on whether they represent female empowerment through sexual agency or contribute to societal . Proponents highlight her ascent from poverty to by capitalizing on her physical attributes, enabling her to challenge conservative norms on female expression in 1970s-1980s , where performances offered women rare economic autonomy in a male-dominated entertainment industry. Critics counter that these portrayals, emphasizing scantily clad dancers and sexualized narratives, perpetuated the cosificación of women as primary visual commodities, with female exposure serving as the central motif in the genre's low-budget productions. Feminist interpretations remain polarized, with some framing May's choices as autonomous resistance to patriarchal constraints, aligning her self-described with feminist causes by rejecting victimhood narratives in favor of personal agency. Others argue the genre's structure exploited performers under economic pressures, reinforcing stereotypes of women as interchangeable objects for male consumption rather than agents of genuine liberation, particularly as sexploitation films declined amid shifting cultural in later decades. Her repeated plastic surgeries, pursued to sustain marketability in body-centric roles, underscore broader concerns over hazards from chasing idealized , serving as a real-world example of excess driven by industry demands for perpetual youth. Conservative critiques have focused on her work's perceived promotion of , exemplified by public over a social media image depicting her alongside the Virgin of Guadalupe in a stylized pose, which drew accusations of irreverence toward and moral decay.

Professional Output

Filmography

Lyn May debuted in cinema with the film Tívoli (1975), an early entry in the Mexican fichera featuring performers. Her subsequent roles emphasized vedette characters in erotic comedies, including Las ficheras (1977), Noches de cabaret (also known as Carnival Nights, 1978, as Rita Wong), Candelaria (1978), Las cariñosas (1979), and Perro callejero (1980). In the early 1980s, she continued with (1980, as ), Las braceras (1981, as La venada), Cerdo (date unspecified, as María de la Paz), picante (1983, as exotic dancer in one segment), and Las perfumadas (1983). Later appearances encompassed La casa que arde de noche (1985, as dancer), La portera ardiente (1989), El mala onda (1990), Los cargadores (1995), and a self-reflective role in the documentary Bellas de noche (also known as Beauties of the Night, 2016).

Other Media Appearances

Lyn May appeared as a performer on the variety program from 1973 to 1974, where host instructed her to perform in revealing attire to align with the show's entertainment style. She also featured on Variedades de medianoche in 1977, contributing to its late-night revue format. In later years, May made guest appearances on comedic television series, including in 2017 and in 2021, often portraying exaggerated versions of her vedette persona. Beyond scripted roles, May has participated in talk and variety shows, such as a 2001 performance of "Paloma Negra" on Tómbola aired by . She continues to appear in interviews, including discussions on Noches con Platanito in 2021 recounting personal anecdotes and a 2025 segment reflecting on her early television experiences. In stage productions, May starred in cabaret-style revues at venues like , headlining for six years alongside acts such as Dámaso Pérez Prado's mambo performances. More recently, she joined the cast of the musical Perfume de in 2024, performing in theaters including Teatro San Rafael. May has ventured into music recordings, releasing tracks like "La Loba" in 2021 and collaborating on "Envidiosa" with OG El Movimiento in 2024, available on platforms such as and . Other singles include "Lo Que A Mí Me Gusta" and "Qué le Pasa a Lupita" from 2022, often blending and personal themes reflective of her career. As of 2025, May maintains an active presence on , particularly under @lynmayoficial, where she shares performance clips from events, such as a 2024 Tijuana show, and nostalgic content revisiting her songs and career highlights. She has conducted recent interviews, including a 2025 appearance on Creepypastas Everywhere detailing personal tragedies.

References

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