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María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican vedette and stage and film actress in the United States and Mexico. 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 film in 1927. By the end of the decade, in the last years of the American Silent cinema, she had progressed to leading roles un numerous films like ''El Gaucho'' (1927), ''Lady of the Pavements'' (1928) and ''Wolf Song'' (1929), among others. She was one of the first successful Latin American actresses in the United States. During the 1930s, her well known explosive screen persona was exploited in a serie of successful films like ''Hot Pepper'' (1933), ''Strictly Dynamite'' (1934) and ''Hollywood Party'' (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the ''Mexican Spitfire'' films, a series created to capitalize on Vélez well documented 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 and a stormy marriage. In December 1944, Vélez died of intentional overdose of Seconal. Her death, and the circumstances surrounding it, have been the subject of speculation and controversy. ==Early life== María Guadalupe Villalobos 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. She was one of five children; she had three sisters: Mercedes, Reyna (also spelled Reina) and Josefina and a brother, Emigdio. According to Vélez's second cousin, the Villalobos family were considered prominent in San Luis Potosí and most of the male family members were college educated which was rare for the era. The family was also financially comfortable and lived in a large home with servants.〔 At 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. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. After the Mexican Revolution began, Jacobo joined the fight and Vélez was removed from school and returned to Mexico City. To help support the family, she began working in a department store. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lupe Vélez」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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