History Creator / LupeVelez

María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (1908-1944), credited as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress and one of the first Latinas to gain success in Hollywood.

She was married to Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller from 1933 to 1939. Vélez died by suicide in 1944, at the age of 36, after taking an overdoese of the barbiturate Seconal. She was pregnant at the time, and the popular theory was that she had killed herself due to a falling-out with the baby's father. This has been disputed by other sources, however, due to Vélez' known turbulent personal life. Furthermore, an account of her death published in the 1959 book ''Hollywood Babylon'' by Kenneth Anger, became an urban legend due to its convoluted (and embarrasing) details.[[note]]In Anger's telling, Vélez planned to stage a "beautiful" suicide scene atop her satin bed, but the Seconal she took did not mix well with the spicy supper she had eaten earlier that evening. As a result, she became violently ill, stumbled to the bathroom to vomit, slipped on the bathroom floor tile, and fell head first into the toilet, where she subsequently drowned.[[/note]] Despite this version of events contradicting published reports and the official ruling (which state Vélez was simply found slumped over her bed), this story nonetheless is often repeated as fact or for comedic effect, such as in the pilot episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', and in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E15HomersPhobia "Homer's Phobia"]].

Vélez committed suicide in 1944, at the age of 36. She was pregnant at the time, and the popular theory was that she had killed herself due to a falling-out with the baby's father. This has been disputed by other sources, however, due to Vélez' known turbulent personal life.

María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (1908-1944), credited as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress and one of the first Latinas to gain success during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

Initially a vaudeville actress in her native Mexico, she made the transition to Hollywood with the Creator/LaurelAndHardy short film ''Sailors, Beware!''. She made her feature film debut in the 1927 silent film ''Film/TheGaucho'', followed by 1928's ''Film/StandAndDeliver''. She was able to make the transition to talkies and worked steadily throughout the 1930s, eventually headlining a series of eight popular films as the character Carmelita Lindsay, beginning with ''Film/TheGirlFromMexico''. She distinguished herself from her Mexican contemporaries, Creator/KatyJurado and Creator/DoloresDelRio, with a clear knack for comedy.

* ''Film/{{Spitfire}}'' (1939-1944)