Sasha Montenegro

{{Short description|Mexican actress (1946–2024)}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Sasha Montenegro | image = | image_size = 280px | birth_name = Aleksandra Aćimović Popović | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|01|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Bari, Italy | death_date = {{death date and age|2024|02|14|1946|01|20|df=y}} | death_place = Cuernavaca, Mexico | occupation = Film and television actress | spouse = {{marriage|José López Portillo|1991|2004|reason=died}} | children = 2 }}  '''Sasha Montenegro''' ({{IPA|es|ˈsaʃa monteˈneɣɾo}}), born '''Aleksandra Aćimović Popović''' (Cyrillic: Александра Аћимовић Поповић; 20 January 1946 – 14 February 2024), was a Mexican actress of Montenegrin Serb descent.

Her stage name is derived from a common Serbo-Croatian diminutive for the name Aleksandra ("Sasha") combined with the Spanish name of her country of origin, which is also a surname ("Montenegro").

She was married to José López Portillo, President of Mexico from 1991 to 2004.<ref name="Univ-Trejo">{{cite news |last1=Trejo |first1=Nicole |title=La historia de amor, y de escándalo, de Sasha Montenegro y el expresidente José López Portillo |url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/espectaculos/la-historia-de-amor-y-de-escandalo-de-sasha-montenegro-y-el-expresidente-jose-lopez-portillo/ |access-date=15 February 2024 |work=El Universal |date=15 February 2024}}</ref>

== Early life and career == Montenegro was born in Bari, Kingdom of Italy, on 20 January 1946, to Yugoslav parents Silvia Popović and Živojin Aćimović. Her mother belonged to an aristocratic family from Montenegro, and her father worked for the British Intelligence Service.<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Montenegro |first=Sasha |interviewer=Gustavo Adolfo Infante |title=En compañía de... Sasha Montenegro 25/08/13 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6VF6bXjrig |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/a6VF6bXjrig |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|date=6 September 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Members of Silvia Popović's family reportedly died in death camps during the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Her remaining family moved to Argentina where she was raised. She then relocated to Mexico. Sasha became an actress in the 1970s and made several lucha libre movies with superstar El Santo. Starting in the mid-1970s and through towards the late 1980s, she obtained roles in several Mexican sex comedies. She participated in four telenovelas and had a starring role in ''Una mujer marcada'' ("A tainted woman", 1979).{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

== Personal life == {{unreferenced section|date=October 2022}} In the 1980s, she maintained a relationship with the former President of Mexico, José López Portillo, who was still married to Carmen Romano, with whom he had three children.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-15 |title=Sasha Montenegro y López Portillo: el fin de una historia de amor y poder |url=https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/nacional/2024/02/15/sasha-montenegro-y-lopez-portillo-el-fin-de-una-historia-de-amor-y-poder/ |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=El Financiero |language=es}}</ref> In 1991, López Portillo obtained a divorce from Romano and he and Montenegro were married in a civil ceremony later that year.<ref name="Univ-Trejo"/>

Montenegro battled with López Portillo during his later years. When he was hospitalized with pneumonia in 2004, her visits were limited by his children from his previous marriage. During this time, while divorce proceedings between Montenegro and López Portillo were underway, he died.

Montenegro bore López Portillo two children, Nabila (born in 1985) and Alejandro (born in 1990).<ref name="Univ-Trejo"/>

Sasha Montenegro died on 14 February 2024, at the age of 78.<ref>[https://www.tvynovelas.com/famosos/murio-sasha-montenegro-habia-sufrido-un-derrame-cerebral Murió Sasha Montenegro: había sufrido un derrame cerebral] {{in lang|es}}</ref>

== Awards and nominations == {| class="wikitable" ! '''Year''' || '''Category''' || '''Program''' || '''Result''' |- | 2003 || TVyNovelas Award for Best Antagonist Actress || ''Las vías del amor'' || Won |- |}

== Filmography ==

===Telenovelas===

{| class="wikitable" |- !Year !Title !Character !Note |-

| 1974 || ''Ana del aire'' || Dolly || Supporting Role |- | 1975 || ''Lo imperdonable'' || Sonia || Supporting Role |- | 1977|| ''Rina'' || Marcela || Supporting Role |- | 1979 || ''Una mujer marcada'' || Lorena/Loraine Montiel || Protagonist |- | 2002 || ''Las vías del amor'' || Catalina Valencia || Main Antagonist |- |- |}

=== Films ===

* ''The End of Silence'' (2005) as El Convento Rica Dancer * ''El secuestro de un policía'' (1991) * ''La fuerza del odio'' (1990) * ''La taquera picante'' (1990) as Ana Dalia * ''Ellos trajeron la violencia'' (1990) as Nora * ''Dos tipas de cuidado'' (1989) * ''Rumbera, caliente'' (1989) * ''Sólo para adúlteros'' (1989) * ''El pájaro con suelas'' (1989) * ''Las guerreras del amor'' (1989) * ''Los rateros'' (1989) * ''Los plomeros y las ficheras'' (1988) * ''Dos machos que ladran no muerden'' (1988) * ''Ladrón'' (1988) * ''Solicito marido para engañar'' (1988) as Virginia * ''El Diablo, el santo y el tonto'' (1987) * ''Las traigo muertas'' (1987) * ''Ases del contrabando'' (1987) * ''Niños sobre pedido'' (1987) * ''Noche de Califas'' (1987) * ''Huele a gas'' (1986) * ''Mientras México duerme'' (1986) * ''El hijo de Pedro Navaja'' (1986) as La Tijuana * ''El secuestro de Camarena'' (1985) * ''La risa alarga la vida y algo más'' (1985) * ''Playa prohibida'' (1985) as Elena * ''Entre ficheras anda el diablo - La pulquería 3'' (1984) * ''Extraño matrimonio'' (1984) * ''Piernas cruzadas'' (1984) * ''El puente'' (1984) * ''Las glorias del gran Púas'' (1984) * ''Pedro Navaja'' (1984) as La Tijuana * ''El tonto que hacía milagros'' (1984) * ''Fieras en brama'' (1983) * ''Se me sale cuando me río'' (1983) * ''La golfa del barrio'' (1983) * ''Las modelos de desnudos'' (1983) * ''Las vedettes'' (1983) * ''Chile picante'' (1983) * ''Con el cuerpo prestado'' (1983) as Marta Jiménez de Arias Salgado * ''Huevos rancheros'' (1982) * ''La pulquería 2'' (1982) as Norma and her Twin * ''Llámenme Mike'' (1982) as Zoila * ''The Pulque Tavern'' (1981) as Norma * ''D.F./Distrito Federal'' (1981) * ''Las tentadoras'' (1980) as Luz María/Lucía * ''Blanca Nieves y... sus 7 amantes'' (1980) * ''El sexo me da risa'' (1979) * ''La vida difícil de una mujer fácil'' (1979) * ''The Loving Ones'' (1979) as Carolina * ''Midnight Dolls'' (1979) as Gina * ''Carnival Nights'' (1978) * ''El hijo es mío'' (1978) * ''Los japoneses no esperan'' (1978) * ''Oye Salomé!'' (1978) as Bettina * ''Bellas de noche 2'' (1977) as Carmen * ''Acapulco 12-22'' (1975) * ''Bellas de noche'' (1975) as Carmen * ''Noche de muerte'' (1975) * ''Pistoleros de la muerte'' (1975) * ''Un amor extraño'' (1975) * ''Santo en Anónimo mortal'' (1975) as Ester * ''Peregrina'' (1974) as Alma Reed * ''Pistoleros bajo el sol'' (1974) * ''Fe, Esperanza y Caridad'' (1974) as Ecuyére * ''Santo y Blue Demon contra el doctor Frankenstein'' (1974) as Alicia Robles * ''Los vampiros de Coyoacán'' (1974) * ''Duelo al atardecer'' (1973) * ''Las bestias del terror'' (1973) * ''Santo contra la magia negra'' (1973) as Bellamira * ''Santo contra los asesinos de otros mundos'' (1973) as Karen Bernstein * ''El hombre y la bestia'' (1973) * ''Hijazo de mi vidaza'' (1972) * ''Un sueño de amor'' (1972)

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == *{{IMDb name|0599378}} *[http://www.alma-latina.net/MujerMarcadaUna/MujerMarcadaUna.shtml ''Una mujer marcada''] at the Telenovela database *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040724/http://www.esmas.com/espectaculos/farandula/468900.html ''Sasha Montenegro, de nuevo en juzgados''] {{in lang|es}} ("Sasha Montenegro, again in court"), article on esmas.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montenegro, Sasha}} Category:1946 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Actresses from Bari Category:Mexican film actresses Category:Mexican vedettes Category:Mexican telenovela actresses Category:Mexican people of Montenegrin descent Category:Italian people of Montenegrin descent Category:Italian emigrants to Mexico Category:Italian emigrants to Argentina Category:Naturalized citizens of Mexico Category:20th-century Mexican actresses Category:21st-century Mexican actresses