“La Bamba” and “Lone Star” actress Elizabeth Pena has died. She was 55.

Pena’s manager, Gina Rugolo, says the actress died Tuesday in Los Angeles of natural causes after a brief illness. No other details were provided.

Elizabeth Peña life.

Elizabeth Peña (born September 23, 1961) was a Cuban American actress and television director.

Peña was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, daughter of Estella Margarita (née Toirac), an arts administrator and producer, and Mario Peña, the Cuban-born actor, writer, and director who jointly founded the Latin American Theatre Ensemble.

Peña graduated from New York’s High School of Performing Arts in 1977. Her classmates included Ving Rhames, alongside whom she would later co-star in Jacob’s Ladder, and Esai Morales, alongside whom she would later co-star in La Bamba. She is also a founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.

http://youtu.be/cGNZckpTcCc

Career.

In 1979, Peña appeared in her first film, El Super, “an exceptionally moving and melancholy comedy about a family of lower-middle-class Cuban refugees attempting to adjust to life in Spanish Harlem”. Peña worked once again with film director Leon Ichaso in his next feature Crossover Dreams opposite Rubén Blades.

Peña has appeared in movies such as La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob’s Ladder, Lone Star, *batteries not included, Vibes, and Rush Hour. In 2002, she starred in Showtime’s Resurrection Blvd. as Tia Bibi Corrades in the episode “Justicia,” which she also directed. In 2003, she appeared in and directed “It Was Fun While It Lasted,” an episode of The Brothers Garcia. She also provided the voice of the character Mirage in Pixar’s animated film The Incredibles. She guest starred in the 18th episode of season 2 of Numbers as Sonya Benavides, and as Pilar, the Colombian mother of Gloria Pritchett, in season 4 of Modern Family. Although she speaks Spanish, she does not dub her own voice for Spanish releases.

Peña is also noted for having starred in I Married Dora, a sitcom that lasted only 13 episodes in 1987, as Dora Calderon, the “Dora” of the show’s title. In the final show, the cast broke the “fourth wall” by announcing their cancellation on-camera and taking a curtain call.

Writer-director John Sayles produced the critically acclaimed but short-lived television series Shannon’s Deal (1989–1991) co-starring Peña alongside series lead Jamey Sheridan. In 1996, Sayles wrote and directed the mystery film Lone Star and again cast her in a co-starring role.

Personal life.

Peña’s first marriage, to William Kibler, ended in divorce in the early 1990s. She then married a carpenter, Hans Rolla, in 1994.

She is survived by her husband, two children, Fiona and one son, Kaelan, mother and sister.

Filmography.
Last Films by Elizabeth Peña.
Year Title Role Notes

2007 Adrift in Manhattan Isabel Parades
American Dad! Store Owner (voice) 1 episode: “American Dream Factory”
D-War Agent Linda Perez
Goal II: Living the Dream Rosa Maria
Love Comes Lately Esperanza
2008 Racing for Time Flores television film
Nothing like the Holidays Anna Rodriguez
2009 Ghost Whisperer Marla 1 episode: “This Joint’s Haunted”
Down for Life Mrs. Castro
Becoming Eduardo Leticia
Mother and Child Amanda
A Single Woman Storyteller
2011 Off the Map Inez 1 episode: “I’m Home”
The Perfect Family Christina
2013 Modern Family Pilar 2 episodes: “Fulgencio” & “The Old Man & the Tree”.
Major Crimes Rosa Vega 1 episode: “Under the Influence”
2014 Matador Maritza Sandoval Recurring role; in production.

Director.
Year Title Notes
2002 Resurrection Blvd. 1 episode: “Justica”
2003 The Brothers Garcia 1 episode: “It Was Fun While It Lasted”

Agencies/Various/Wiki/InternetPhotos/youtube/thecubanhistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.

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