Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Maria Peña was an American actress. Her film credits include Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Batteries Not Included, La Bamba, Jacob's Ladder, Rush Hour, and Nothing like the Holidays. Peña won the 1996 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and a Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film for her work in Lone Star. She also voiced Rosa Santos in the animated television series Maya & Miguel and Mirage in the animated film The Incredibles.
Early life
Peña was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on September 23, 1959, to Mario and Estella Margarita Peña. Mario Peña was a Cuban actor, playwright, director, and designer, and Estella Margarita Peña was a producer. The Peña family moved to Cuba when Elizabeth was less than a year old; she returned to the United States at the age of nine, after which time she and her family resided in New York City. Peña's parents founded the Theatre Ensemble. In 1977, Peña graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts.Career
In 1979, Peña made her film debut in Leon Ichaso's El Super, a "moving and melancholy comedy about a family of lower middle class Cuban refugees attempting to adjust to life in Spanish Harlem". She worked with Ichaso again in the director's next feature, Crossover Dreams.Peña starred in I Married Dora, a sitcom, as the title character. She also starred in John Sayles's produced critically acclaimed but short-lived television series Shannon's Deal.
Peña appeared in films such as Nothing like the Holidays, La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, *batteries not included, Blue Steel, 1997's Gridlock'd as ER Admissions Person, Vibes, and Rush Hour.
In 1996, Sayles wrote and directed the mystery film Lone Star and again cast Peña in a co-starring role, for which she won the 1996 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film from the National Council of La Raza.
In 2002, Peña starred in Showtime's Resurrection Blvd. as Bibi Corrades in the episode "Justicia"; she directed an episode of the show. In 2003, she appeared in and directed "It Was Fun While It Lasted", an episode of The Brothers Garcia.
Peña was the fourth Latina to join the Directors' Guild of America.
Peña also voiced Mirage in Pixar's animated film The Incredibles. She guest-starred in the 18th episode of season 2 of Numb3rs as Sonya Benavides, and in season 4 of Modern Family as Pilar, the Colombian mother of Gloria Pritchett.
Peña co-founded the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. She acted in 45 films.
Personal life and death
Peña married television producer William Stephan Kibler in 1988. Their marriage ended in divorce. In 1994, Peña married Hans Rolla, with whom she had two children, Fiona and Kaelan.Peña died on October 14, 2014, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 55. The cause of death listed on her death certificate was cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol, which caused acute gastrointestinal bleeding, cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. Peña was cremated and buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, alongside the ashes of her mother Estella Margarita Toirac.