Lupe Velez
A Beautiful Suicide
To Hot To Handle or - Too Hot To Handle It?
Tempestuous Mexican actress Lupe Velez parlayed her voluptuous
figure and tireless energy into a south-of-the-border musical comedy career
before she was 20.
In 1926, Velez moved to Hollywood, where she secured a role in The Music Box
Revue and was featured in a handful of Hal Roach two-reelers. Her first major
role in a feature film was as Douglas Fairbanks' fiery vis-à-vis in The Gaucho
(1928); she made her talkie debut in D.W. Griffith's Lady of the Pavements. In
1933, she married Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller, a union distinguished by loud,
headline-grabbing public spats; they were divorced in 1938.
Velez drew a lot of attention at Hollywood parties. Velez, who was known to not wear underwear, would toss her dress over her head to show off for the crowd. Velez liked to be the star of the show but her best performance was her grand finale.
The following year, with her career in the doldrums, Velez
starred in an RKO programmer called The Girl From Mexico; this led to the
popular Mexican Spitfire series, in which the irrepressible Velez was teamed
with rubber-legged character comedian Leon Errol.
She returned to Mexico in 1944 to star in Nana, which was not the success she
hoped it would be.
In December of that year she found herself pregnant and unmarried, and so the
depressed actress refused to have an abortion because it was against her
Catholic religion. Her solution was to overdose on downers. Velez fixed up
her hair and makeup and put on sexy lingerie.
Unfortunately, the pills and the Mexican meal she had eaten a few hours earlier didn't mix so well. The next morning, the maid found a trail of vomit from the bed to the restroom. Velez was dead, her head stuffed down the toilet.
Interesting Bit of Trivia:
Andy Warhol made a 1967 Film About Lupe Velez's Last Night
The Actress Who Played Lupe, Edie Sedgwick
Died In The Same Manner A Few Years Later
Read Her Story Here
Lupe Velez Filmography
Nana (1944) .... Nana
Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Redhead from Manhattan (1943) .... Rita Manners/Elaine Manners
Ladies' Day (1943) .... Pepita Zorita
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (1942) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Playmates (1941) .... Carmen
Honolulu Lu (1941) .... Consuelo Cordoba
Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (1941) .... Madame La Zonga
Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Mexican Spitfire (1940) .... Carmelita Lindsay
Girl from Mexico, The (1939) .... Carmelita Fuentes
Zandunga, La (1938) .... Lupe
Stardust (1937) .... Carla de Huelva
High Flyers (1937) .... Juanita Morales
Gypsy Melody (1936) .... Mila
Morals of Marcus, The (1935) .... Carlotta
Laughing Boy (1934) .... Slim Girl
Strictly Dynamite (1934) .... Vera Mendez
Palooka (1934) .... Nina Madero
Hot Pepper (1933) .... Pepper
Half Naked Truth, The (1932) .... Teresita, aka La Belle Sultana, and Princess
Exotica
Kongo (1932) .... Tula
Broken Wing, The (1932) .... Lolita
Hombres de mi vida (1932) .... Julia Clark
Resurrección (1931)
Cuban Love Song, The (1931) .... Nanita
Squaw Man, The (1931) .... Naturich
Resurrection (1931) .... Katusha Maslova
Oriente es Occidente (1930) .... Ming Toy
East Is West (1930) .... Ming Toy
Storm, The (1930) .... Manette Fachard
Hell Harbor (1930) .... Anita Morgan
Tiger Rose (1929) .... Rose
Where East Is East (1929) .... Toyo Haynes
Wolf Song, The (1929) .... Lola Salazar
Lady of the Pavements (1929) .... Nanon del Rayon
Stand and Deliver (1928) .... Jania
What Women Did for Me (1927) (uncredited) .... Bit Part
Gaucho, The (1927) .... The Mountain Girl
Sailors Beware (1927) (uncredited) .... Baroness Behr
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