![]() ![]() Vélez began her career in Mexican revues in the early 1920s. Beginnings in Mexico and arrival to the United States (1924–26) She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Īt the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas, where Vélez learned to speak English and dance. According to Vélez's second cousin, they lived in a large home, and most of the male members received a college education. The Villalobos were considered a prominent, financially comfortable family in San Luis Potosí. ![]() She was one of five children she had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina and a brother, Emigdio. Vélez was born in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico, the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the armed forces of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it were the subject of speculation and controversy. Vélez died at age 36 in December 1944 of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. She had several highly publicized romances with Hollywood actors and a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller. Nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire by the media, Vélez's personal life was as colorful as her screen persona. In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked while appearing as Carmelita Fuentes in eight Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalize on her fiery personality. During the 1930s, her explosive screen persona was exploited in successful comedic films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934) and Hollywood Party (1934). She was one of the first successful Latin-American actresses in Hollywood. Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. By the end of the decade, she was acting in full-length silent films and had progressed to leading roles in The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928) and Wolf Song (1929), among others. After moving to the United States, she made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s. María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (J– December 13, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress, singer and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. ![]()
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