LUPE VELEZ was born near Mexico City in 1908. As a young film actress, she played roles of various ethnicities, but always maintained a very thick Mexican accent. She was born in poverty, her mother a prostitute. Lupe was sent to a convent school in Texas until age 13, then went home to work and assist her family. She saved money for dancing lessons and with her huge personality worked on the Mexican stage and then moved to Hollywood, was seen by Max Sennett, placed in a Laurel and Hardy short and then cast by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in THE GAUCHO. She played dramatic roles in late silent and early talkies, then moved on to comedy in 1933 with HOT PEPPER. From that time on she was a top Hollywood film comedian, utilizing her Latino persona, this led to her own series of films, cast as “the Mexican Spitfire”. The series ran between 1939 and 1943. Her career was somewhat overshadowed by personal stormy relationships, and she committed suicide at 36. She was one of four actors born in Mexico who made a huge impression in early Hollywood, the others being Dolores Del Rio, Ramon Navarro and Gilbert Roland.