Lupe Ontiveros

Lupe Ontiveros was an actress who portrayed Rosalita in The Goonies.

Life and career
Born on September 17, 1942 in El Paso, Texas as Guadalupe Moreno, Ontiveros attended Texas Woman's University, where she studied and graduated with a degree in social work. She grew dissatisfied with this field of work, however, and while trying to decide if she wanted to return to college for a nursing degree, she saw an wanted ad for extras in film.

Her first acting role was as a maid in an episode of the television series Charlie's Angels; her first appearance in film was in The World's Greatest Lover. Her more prominent roles as an actress included Yolanda Saldívar in Selena, Beverly Franco in Chuck &amp; Buck, Magdalena Tiant in Greetings from Tucson, and Juanita "Mama" Solis in Desperate Housewives.

Ontiveros was nominated for an Emmy for her work on Desperate Housewives. Her role in Chuck & Buck won her the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress.

She also had a short career with working in theater, notably with the first Mexican-American play to show on Broadway, Zoot Suit.

Outside of film, she was an advocate for domestic abuse prevention and awareness, as well as AIDS awareness. She also helped promote for higher education for Latinos, as well as advocating for expanded roles for Latina women in film.

She passed away on July 26, 2012 due to complications with liver cancer; she was 69 when she died.

Trivia

 * Ontiveros estimated she played upwards of 150 roles on film and on stage as a maid.