Lupe Velez

Lupe Vélez was born in 1908 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where she witnessed the Mexican Revolution as a child. She developed a passion for acting and dancing, and started her career in Mexican revues in the early 1920s. She moved to the United States in 1924, where she was discovered by a talent scout and made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. She soon became a leading lady in silent films, such as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929), where she showcased her beauty, charisma, and exotic appeal. She successfully transitioned to sound films, and became one of the first and most successful Mexican actresses in Hollywood. She was known for her explosive screen persona and her comedic talents, which she displayed in films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). She also starred in musicals, dramas, and adventure films, working with actors like Douglas Fairbanks, Laurel and Hardy, and Gary Cooper, with whom she had a tumultuous affair. In the 1940s, she reached the peak of her popularity with the Mexican Spitfire series, a set of eight films that capitalized on her fiery personality and accent. She was nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire by the media, and became a symbol of Latinas in Hollywood. She also had a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller, an Olympic swimmer and actor who played Tarzan. Vélez died in 1944 at the age of 36, after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She was pregnant at the time, and the father of her child was Harald Maresch, an Austrian actor who refused to marry her. Her death was surrounded by speculation and controversy, and some rumors claimed that she had drowned in the toilet or that she had been pregnant by Gary Cooper. She was buried in Mexico City, where she remains a cultural icon and an inspiration for many Latina actresses.