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Lupe Vélez

María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 14, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress, singer and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States, she made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. 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. Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. She was one of the first successful Mexican actresses in Hollywood. During the 1930s, her explosive screen persona was exploited in successful comedic films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934) and Hollywood Party (1934). 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.

Nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire by the media, Vélez's personal life was as colorful as her screen persona. She had several highly publicized romances with Hollywood actors and a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller. Vélez died at age 36 in December 1944 of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it were the subject of speculation and controversy.

Birth and Death Data: Born July 18, 1908 (San Luis Potosí), Died December 13, 1944 (Beverly Hills)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1929

Roles Represented in DAHR: contralto

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-51106 10-in. 3/30/1929 Mi amado Lupe Vélez Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, contralto  
Victor BVE-51107 10-in. 3/30/1929 Where is the song of songs for me? Lupe Vélez Female vocal solo, with orchestra vocalist, contralto  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Vélez, Lupe," accessed April 29, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105321.

Vélez, Lupe. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105321.

"Vélez, Lupe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 29 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105321

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