Lupe Ontiveros, a Mexican-American character actress who struggled through Hollywood typecasting to play memorable roles in television and film and become a model of perseverance for Latino actors, died on Thursday [July 26, 2012] in Whittier, Calif. She was 69.
A son, Nicholas Ontiveros, said the cause was liver cancer.
Ms. Ontiveros worked steadily throughout a career of more than 35 years in roles as disparate as a murderous fan in "Selena" and a domineering mother in "Real Women Have Curves," which brought her a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. She was nominated for an Emmy as Eva Longoria's suspicious mother-in-law in the ABC series "Desperate Housewives."
In "Selena," released in 1997, Ms. Ontiveros was so credible as the killer of the popular Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla, played by Jennifer Lopez, that for years the singer's fans would hiss at her when she walked into a public place. ...
Ms. Ontiveros's signature role became that of the Hispanic maid, which she figured she had played more than 150 times in television and films, like James L. Brooks's "As Good as It Gets" and Steven Spielberg's "Goonies." ...
Ms. Ontiveros pined for roles that would showcase her talents, she said in interviews. She wished to play a judge, or perhaps Hispanic heroines like the 17th-century Mexican poet and nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, or the union organizer Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers. But more often than not she was offered the maid. ...
Ms. Ontiveros, who lived in Pico Rivera, Calif., is survived by her husband, Elias Ontiveros Jr.; her sons Nicholas, Alejandro and Elias, and two granddaughters.
More (w/photo):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/28/arts/television/lupe-ontiveros-69-desperate-housewives-actress-dies.html
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