Lupe Velez (1908-1944)

biography

Born Maria Guadalupe Velez de Villalobos near Mexico City on July 18, 1908, the early life of gorgeous Lupe Velez is somewhat of a mystery. Some biographers claim she was the daughter of a prostitute, while others claim that her mother was a singer and her father was an Army officer who was killed during the waning days of the Mexican Revolution. Velez's mother and siblings relocated to Texas in the early 1920s only to soon return to Mexico City, where Velez took a job as a shop girl. And avid student of dance and song, Velez soon made her way onstage in musical shows in her native country. At the age of 18, she left Mexico City for Hollywood in search of a big break into silent films. She was quickly discovered by producer Hal Roach, who recognized her comedic gifts and used her in several comedy shorts starring Charley Chase and Laurel and Hardy. Her breakthrough role came in 1927 when she was cast in a starring role opposite Douglas Fairbanks in the United Artists adventure The Gaucho (1928; with Joan Barclay). Her next film was the drama Stand and Deliver (1928; with Rod La Rocque and Warner Oland). That same year, Velez was selected by the Western Association Of Motion Picture Advertisers as one of its WAMPAS baby stars, along with other actresses such as Lina Basquette, Sue Carol, June Collyer, and Sally Eilers.

During the waning days of the silents, Velez became a star in popular films such as Where East Is East (1929; with Lon Chaney) and Tiger Rose (1929; with Monte Blue and Grant Withers). Her first sound feature, Lady of the Pavements (1929; with William Boyd and Franklin Pangborn), was one of famed silent director D.W. Griffith's last assignments.

Velez's career survived the transition to sound rather nicely, but she often scandalized Hollywood with romantic exploits with her costars, including Gary Cooper and Gilbert Roland. In 1933, she married Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller, but their frequent rifts made headlines and did nothing for Velez's career, which began a slow decline. Her sexually energized pre-Code roles had made her a star, but when the Hays Production Code was enforced in 1934, dramatic roles for Velez vanished, so she returned to comedy in B movies. Possessing a gift for song, Velez also acted on the Broadway stage in several musicals during the early 1930s and again in the late 1930s. By 1939, her marriage to Weissmuller had ended, and her career had few bright spots until she was cast in the RKO comedy The Girl from Mexico (1939; with Leon Errol and Donald Woods). Velez's performance was so stellar and well-received that RKO built a series around the film called Mexican Spitfire, which included eight films.

the films of lupe velez

Hell Harbor (1930)

The Squaw Man (1931)

Resurrection (1931)

The Half Naked Truth (1932)

Hollywood Party (1934)

High Flyers (1937)

The Girl from Mexico (1939)

Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940)

Honolulu Lu (1941)

Ladies' Day (1943)

later years

With the release of Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943; with Leon Errol and Hugh Beaumont), the Mexican Spitfire series fizzled. At this point, Velez's career stalled. She made just one more film, Nana (1944) in her native Mexico, but this film failed to revive her flagging career. In the fall of 1944, Velez discovered she was pregnant by aspiring Austrian actor Harald Maresch, who refused to marry her. Despondent over her career and personal situation, Velez committed suicide on December 13, 1944, at the age of 36.

lupe velez films available from movies unlimited

Stand And Deliver [DVD](1928) DVD
Bored with civilian life after fighting for the British in World War I, Roger Norman (Rod La Rocque), a veteran military man, enlists in the Greek armed forces. The new lieutenant hasn't long to wait before he can prove his courage, rescuing a girl (Lupe Velez) and confronting a villainous superior officer. Silent drama co-stars Warner Oland, James Dime. 57 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score; bonus short "The Stuntman" (1927). Silent with music score.
The Gaucho [DVD](1928) DVD
In a villainous change-of-pace role, Douglas Fairbanks plays a roguish South American horseman who seeks a fabled holy city built into the mountains in hopes of robbing it, but later becomes its unlikely defender from a horde of bandits. With Lupe Velez, Eve Southern, and a cameo by Mary Pickford as "Our Lady of the Shrine." 96 min. Standard; Soundtrack: music score. Silent with music score.
Hell Harbor (1930)/Jungle Bride [DVD](1933) DVD
Lupe Velez plays a descendant of Morgan the Pirate in "Hell Harbor," the saucy pre-Code romantic drama that finds Velez a pawn between her father and a pearl trader blackmailing him over the murder of another man. The price for his silence? Lupe's hand in marriage! Gibson Gowland, Jean Hersholt co-star; also includes an alternate cut (with pre-Code footage intact) re-edited for pacing at the time of its wider release. Next, two men and two women stranded on a remote island off the African coast do their best to replicate civilized society, but it turns out savagery is easy to come by. Wild pre-Code film "Jungle Bride" stars Charles Starrett, Anita Page. 3 1/2 hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; theatrical trailer.
Kongo [DVD](1932) DVD
Dark and disturbing drama, based on the play by Chester De Vonde and Kilbourn Gordon, about a sinister wheelchair-bound white man (Walter Huston, reprising his stage role) who uses stage magic to rule the superstitious natives of an African region while he plots his revenge against the man who paralyzed him and stole his woman. Lupe Velez, Conrad Nagel, Virginia Bruce also star. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono. Also includes the bonus documentary "Untamed Africa" (1933).
Strictly Dynamite [DVD](1934) DVD
Classic comedy stars Jimmy Durante as a radio funnyman who finds himself struggling to come up with new material. In order to keep the laughs coming, he hires a young assistant...and promptly becomes interested in his new associate's beautiful wife. Can he figure out what-and whom-he really wants? With Lupe Velez, Norman Foster, Marian Nixon; songs include "Hot Pattata," "Swing It Sister," "Money in My Clothes," "I'm Putty in Your Hands." Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Palooka (Joe Palooka) [DVD](1936) DVD
The famed comic-strip boxer made his feature film debut in this exciting comedy/drama charting Joe's rise to the top of the ring. Stuart Erwin has the title role, but Jimmy Durante steals the show as manager Knobby Walsh. With Lupe Velez, Thelma Todd and William Cagney (Jimmy's brother). 86 min.
The Mexican Spitfire Collection [DVD] DVD
Lupe Velez is "The Girl from Mexico" (1939), the hot-tempered Carmelita Fuentes, a south-of-the-border showgirl who sets her exquisite eyes on marrying an American publicity agent (Donald Woods). This diverting comic musical that launched a subsequent series for RKO co-stars Linda Hayes, Leon Errol. Errol plays a hilarious dual role in "Mexican Spitfire" (1940), which picks up the saga of Velez and Woods as newlyweds; "Mexican Spitfire Out West" (1940), finds Velez planning a surprise for her husband, but suddenly suspects he's cheating on her; "Mexican Spitfire's Baby" (1941) brings a 20-year-old orphan into the household; "Mexican Spitfire at Sea" (1942) mines laughs from the couple's second honeymoon; "Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost" (1942), which makes for many spooky laughs; "Mexican Spitfire's Elephant" (1942) turns on a wild jewel heist; and "Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event" (1943) makes for the purr-fect capper to the series. 9 1/4 hrs. total on four discs. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono.

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filmography

FILM
Nana (1944)
Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943) with Leon Errol, Hugh Beaumont, and Walter Reed
Redhead from Manhattan (1943) with Tim Ryan and Gerald Mohr
Ladies' Day (1943) with Eddie Albert, Patsy Kelly, Max Baer, Iris Adrian, and Jerome Cowan
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942) with Leon Errol, Walter Reed, and Lyle Talbot
Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (1942) with Leon Errol, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Minna Gombell, and Mantan Moreland
Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942) with Leon Errol, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Zasu Pitts, and Eddie Dunn
Playmates (1941) with John Barrymore, May Robson, Patsy Kelly, Peter Lind Hayes, and Kay Kyser
Honolulu Lu (1941) with Bruce Bennett, Leo Carrillo, Don Beddoe, and Forrest Tucker
Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941) with Leon Errol, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Zasu Pitts, and Lloyd Corrigan
Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (1941) with Leon Errol, Helen Parrish, William Frawley, Eddie Quillan, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, and Shemp Howard
Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940) with Leon Errol, Donald Woods, Cecil Kellaway, Eddie Dunn, and Grant Withers
Mexican Spitfire (1940) with Leon Errol, Donald Woods, and Cecil Kellaway
The Girl from Mexico (1939) with Leon Errol, Donald Woods, and Ward Bond
La Zandunga (1938)
High Flyers (1937) with Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Marjorie Lord, Margaret Dumont, and Jack Carson
Stardust (1937) with Ben Lyon, Wallace Ford, and Harry Langdon
Gypsy Melody (1936)
The Morals of Marcus (1935)
Hollywood Party (1934) with Jimmy Durante, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Polly Moran, Charles Butterworth, and Eddie Quillan
Laughing Boy (1934) with Ramon Novarro
Strictly Dynamite (1934) with Jimmy Durante, William Gargan, Marian Nixon, Eugene Pallette, Sterling Holloway, Minna Gombell, and Franklin Pangborn
Palooka (1934) with Jimmy Durante, Stuart Erwin, Marjorie Rambeau, Robert Armstrong, Thelma Todd, and Louise Beavers
Mr. Broadway (1933) with Ed Sullivan
Hot Pepper (1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen
The Half Naked Truth (1932) with Lee Tracy, Eugene Pallette, and Franklin Pangborn
Kongo (1932) with Walter Huston, Conrad Nagel, and Virginia Bruce
The Broken Wing (1932) with Leo Carrillo and Melvyn Douglas
Hombres de mi vida (1932) with Gilbert Roland
The Cuban Love Song (1931) with Jimmy Durante and Louise Fazenda
The Squaw Man (1931) with Warner Baxter, Charles Bickford, Roland Young, and Raymond Hatton
Resurrection (1931) with John Boles
East Is West (1930) with Lew Ayres, Edward G. Robinson, Charles Middleton, and Jean Hersholt
The Storm (1930)
Hell Harbor (1930) with Jean Hersholt, John Holland, and Al 'Fuzzy' St. John
Tiger Rose (1929) with Monte Blue, H.B. Warner, Grant Withers, and Slim Summerville
Where East Is East (1929) with Lon Chaney
The Wolf Song (1929) with Gary Cooper and Russ Columbo
Lady of the Pavement (1929) with William Boyd and Franklin Pangborn
Stand and Deliver (1928) with Rod La Rocque and Warner Oland
The Gaucho (1927) with Douglas Fairbanks
Sailors Beware (1927) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
What Women Did for Me (1927) with Charley Chase

lupe velez film now showing

Watch Lupe Velez in the 1934 United Artists comedy Palooka