Biography for
Lupe Velez More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 July 1908, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Date of Death

13 December 1944, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (suicide)

Birth Name

María Guadalupe Vélez de Villalobos

Nickname

Mexican Spitfire

Height

5' (1.52 m)

Mini Biography

Lupe Velez was born on July 18, 1908 in San Luis de Potosi, Mexico, as Maria Guadalupe Villalobos Velez. Lupe was sent to Texas at the age of 13 to live in a convent. By her own admission, Lupe said she wasn't much of a student because she was so rambunctious. She had planned to become a champion roller-skater but that would change. Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help her family out financially. She worked as a sales girl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept out a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business. Besides it was a lot more glamorous than dancing or being a sales clerk. In 1924, Lupe started that career on the Mexican stage and wowed audiences with her natural beauty and talent. By 1927, she had emigrated to Hollywood where she was discovered by Hal Roach who cast her in a comedy with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Douglas Fairbanks cast her in his feature film THE GAUCHO with himself and Mary Pickford. Lupe played dramatic roles for five years before she switched to comedy. In 1933, she played the lead role of Pepper in HOT PEPPER. This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful. In 1934, Lupe appeared in three fine comedies, STRICTLY DYNAMITE, PALOOKA, and LAUGHING BOY. By now her popularity was such that a series of Mexican Spitfire films were written around her. She portrayed Carmelita Lindsay in MEXICAN SPITFIRE (1939), THE MEXICAN SPITFIRE OUT WEST (1940), MEXICAN SPITFIRE'S BABY (1941), and MEXICAN SPITFIRE'S BLESSED EVENT (1943) among many others. Audiences loved her in these madcap adventures but it seemed, at times, she was better known for her stormy love affairs. She married one of her lovers, Johnny Weissmuller, but that only lasted five years and was filled with battles. Lupe certainly did live up to her nickname. She had a failed romance with Gary Cooper, who never wanted to wed her. By 1943, her career was waning. She went to Mexico in the hopes of giving herself a jump start. She gained the best reviews yet in the Mexican version of NANA. Bolstered by that movie, Lupe returned to the US where she starred in her final film as Pepita Zorita in LADIES' DAY. There were to be no others. On December 13, 1944, tired of yet another failed romance with Harald Maresch and pregnant with his child, Lupe committed suicide with an overdose of Seconal. She was only 36 years old.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson

Mini Biography

Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, Lupe Velez and José Mojica as among the few Mexican people who made history in the early years of Hollywood. Vélez career began in Mexico City, where she lived with her mother and sisters. In 1925, while working in a clothes store, Vélez caught the attention of three theatrical managers who were impressed by her beauty and grace. Her debut at Teatro Principal was a great success specially because hours before her first show she was forbidden to act on stage (she wasn't considered a "first-class" actress by then Mexican actor's guild). Bravely, Vélez took a seat in the auditorium and, after the curtain rose, she explained her situation to the public. This act gave her instant support and caused her delayed debut to be expected by all Mexico. After that, she was adored by everybody attending musical theater in the capital of Mexico. Her great success, combined with the rising careers of other latin people like Valentino, Del Río and Novarro, called the attention of Hollywood mogul Hal Roach who offered Vélez a contract to make movies. After two bit parts, she got the lead in Gaucho, The (1927) with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Her Hollywood career can be considered the most successful of all Mexican stars of that age. She hasn't any trouble in the transition from silents to talkies (her most memorable films are those from the the "Mexican spitfire" series of late 30's). On another hand, her love life was a disaster: she never recovered from her failed romance with Gary Cooper, who never wanted to marry her. She was married to Johnny Weissmuller, but they divorced after five years. Drugs and alcohol destroyed her life at 34. When she committed suicide she was pregnant by young actor Harald Maresch.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Maximiliano Maza

Spouse

Johnny Weissmuller

(8 October 1933 - 1939) (divorced)

Trivia

Lupe wanted to be remembered; that was her one wish. Since she was not being remembered by her films, she decided to be remembered by her suicide. She had everything planned; the pretty silk night gown, and make-up, the position. She knew that picture would make front cover news the next day.

She was pregnant at the time of her death, and in her suicide note named Austrian actor Harald Maresch as the father.

The most popular Italian crossword weekly magazine, "La Settimana Enigmistica", which typically features the picture of a star on its cover page puzzle, had Lupe Velez on its no. 1 issue back in the '30s.

She had one brother and two sisters. When she was a child, her father, a Mexican Army officer, died during a revolution, and she had to work for a living. Her mother was an opera singer (though some say, she was a prostitute), with whom she first saw what stage life was like.

Measurements: 37-26 1/2-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Was best friends with actress Estelle Taylor, who was the last person to see her alive.

Personal Quotes

The first time you buy a house you think how pretty it is and sign the check. The second time you look to see if the basement has termites. It's the same with men.

Salary

The Wolf Song (1929)

$2,500/week

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