Lupe Vélez

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Lupe Vélez July 18 1908 December 13 1944 was a Mexican and American stage and film actress comedian dancer and vedette Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s After moving to the United States she made her first film appearance in a short film in 1927 By the end of the decade in the last years of American silent films she had progressed to leading roles in numerous movies like El Gaucho 1927 Lady of the Pavements 1928 and Wolf Song 1929 among others She was one of the first successful Latin American actresses in the United States During the 1930s her wellknown explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper 1933 Strictly Dynamite 1934 and Hollywood Party 1934 In the 1940s Vélezs popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films a series created to capitalize on Vélezs welldocumented fiery personality Nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire by the media Vélezs personal life was as colorful as her screen persona She had several highly publicized romances and a stormy marriage In December 1944 Vélez died of an intentional overdose of Seconal Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy   Description above from the Wikipedia article Lupe Vélez licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia