Elizabeth Peña

1959–2014 · American actress of Cuban descent

Biography

Elizabeth Peña (Elizabeth, New Jersey, 1959 - Los Angeles, 2014) was an American actress of Cuban descent, best known for her work in independent cinema and in popular comedies of the 1980s and 1990s. Her career spanned film and television, and she became one of the recognisable Latina performers of her generation in Hollywood.

The daughter of Mario Peña, a Cuban actor, director and writer who helped found the Theatre Ensemble, and of Estella Margarita Peña, she trained at New York's High School of Performing Arts, where she overlapped with Ving Rhames and Esai Morales, both of whom she would later share screen time with. Her film debut came in 1979 with El Super, directed by Leon Ichaso, and she returned to his work for a second feature.

During the 1980s she gained wider attention in films such as Batteries Not Included, La Bamba and Down and Out in Beverly Hills. She headlined the sitcom I Married Dora, which lasted only a single season. Later she appeared in John Sayles's Shannon's Deal, critically admired but short-lived, and reunited with Sayles for Lone Star (1996), her most celebrated role, which earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. Mainstream hits such as Rush Hour and Transamérica brought her to larger audiences, and she voiced Mirage in The Incredibles. On television she appeared in Resurrection Blvd., Numb3rs and Modern Family, where she played Gloria's mother.

Peña co-founded the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors and also directed episodes of television series, which was unusual for a Latina performer of her generation. She died in Los Angeles in October 2014, aged 55, from cirrhosis of the liver linked to alcohol. Her legacy rests mainly on Lone Star and on her contribution to Latino representation on American screens.

Key films

Lone Star (1996), directed by John Sayles, as Pilar Cortez, the role that brought her critical recognition.
La Bamba (1987), directed by Luis Valdez, as Rosie Morales-Valenzuela.
Batteries Not Included (1987), directed by Matthew Robbins, as Marisa Esteval.
Rush Hour (1998), directed by Brett Ratner, in a supporting role in the action comedy.
Transamérica (2005), directed by Duncan Tucker, in a drama about gender identity.
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), directed by Paul Mazursky, in one of her early comedy supporting parts.

Trivia

Classmates

She trained at New York's High School of Performing Arts, where her classmates included Ving Rhames and Esai Morales, both of whom she later worked with on screen.