Elizabeth Peña

This article is about the actress. For the murder victim, see Murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña.

Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Peña on May 17, 2009
Born	Elizabeth Maria Peña (1959-09-23)September 23, 1959 Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	October 14, 2014(2014-10-14) (aged 55) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–2014
Spouse(s)	William Kibler (m. 1988; div. ??) Hans Rolla (m. 1994; her death 2014)
Children	2

Elizabeth Maria Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014) was an American actress known for her work in films including Nothing Like The Holidays, Batteries Not Included, La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, Rush Hour, The Incredibles, and Lone Star, for which she won the 1996 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and a Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film. She was also a founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.

Contents

• 
  1 Early life
  


• 
  2 Career
  


• 
  3 Personal life and death
  


• 
  4 Filmography
  


• 
  5 See also
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Early life

Peña was born on September 23, 1959^[1] in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she was raised, the daughter of Mario Peña, an actor, director, and writer who co-founded the Latin American Theatre Ensemble, and Estella Margarita (Toirac) Peña, an arts administrator and producer.^[1][2] She was of Cuban descent, and spent her early years in Cuba.^[3] At age 8, Peña and her family moved to New York City. In 1975, she was a founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors. In 1977, she graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts. Her classmates were Ving Rhames and Esai Morales, whom she would later star with in La Bamba and Resurrection Blvd.

Career

In 1979, Peña made her film debut, El Super, and described as a "moving and melancholy comedy about a family of lower middle class Cuban refugees attempting to adjust to life in Spanish Harlem".^[4] She worked once again with director Leon Ichaso in his next feature, Crossover Dreams. She appeared in films such as Nothing Like The Holidays, La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, Lone Star, *batteries not included, 1997's "Gridlock'd" as ER Admissions Person (under the name Elizabeth Anne Dickinson), 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. 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. Although she spoke Spanish, she did not dub her own voice for Spanish releases. Peña was also noted for having starred in I Married Dora, a sitcom in 1987, as Dora Calderon, the title character. She also starred in John Sayles' produced critically acclaimed but short-lived television series Shannon's Deal (1989–1991). In 1996, Sayles wrote and directed the mystery film Lone Star and again cast her 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.

Personal life and death

Peña married William Stephan Kibler in 1988. Their marriage later ended in divorce. In 1994, Peña married Hans Rolla, with whom she had two children, Fiona and Kaelan.^[5]

Peña died on October 14, 2014 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 55.^[5][6][7] 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.^[8][9]

Filmography

Film and Television

1979	El Super	Aurelita
1980	Times Square	Disco Hostess
1981	They All Laughed	Rita
1985	Crossover Dreams	Liz Garcia
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Adelita Carrena	Episode: "Ordinary Hero"
1985	T.J. Hooker	Maria	Episode: "Rip-off"
1986	Down and Out in Beverly Hills	Carmen
1986	Hill Street Blues	Alice	Episode: "Come and Get It"
1986	Tough Cookies	Connie Rivera	6 episodes
1987	La Bamba	Rosie Morales
1987	*batteries not included	Marisa Esteval
1987–1988	I Married Dora	Dora Calderon	13 episodes
1988	Vibes	Consuelo
1989	Shannon's Deal	Lucy Acosta	Television film
1989	Blue Steel	Tracy Perez
1990	Drug Wars: The Camarena Story	Mika Camarena	Miniseries
1990	Jacob's Ladder	Jezzie
1990–1991	Shannon's Deal	Lucy Acosta	11 episodes
1992	The Waterdance	Rosa
1992	Fugitive Among Us	Flo Martin	Television film
1993	Dream On	Debra	Episode: "Super Freak"
1993–1994	L.A. Law	Jinx Baldasseri	4 episodes
1994	Dead Funny	Viv Saunders
1994	Roommates	Lisa	Television film
1995	Across the Moon	Carmen
1995	The Outer Limits	Dr. Jennifer Martinez	Episode: "Living Hell"
1995	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Kate Haley
1995	The Invaders	Ellen Garza	Miniseries
1996	It Came from Outer Space II	Ellen Fields	Television film
1996	Lone Star	Pilar
1996	Recon	Officer Santiago
1996	Two	Elizabeth Gaitan	Unaired pilot
1997	Contagious	Det. Luisa Rojas	Television film
1997	Gridlock'd	Admissions Person
1997	The Second Civil War	Christina	Television film
1997	Dead Man's Gun	Gisella	Episode: "Fortune Teller"
1998	The Pass	Zeena
1998	Rush Hour	Detective Tania Johnson
1998	The Eddie Files	Aunt Ida	Episode: "Charts & Graphs: The Dessert Derby"
1998	Strangeland	Toni Gage
1998	Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within	Rosario Ames	Television film
1999	Border Line	Maria Rodriguez	Television film
1999	Seven Girlfriends	Martha
2000	Ryan's Comedia	Mrs. Neuroplanet	Voice
2001	Things Behind the Sun	Carmen
2001	Tortilla Soup	Leticia Naranjo
2001	Resurrection Blvd.	Beatriz "Bibi" Corrales	Episode: "Arriba Y Abajo"
2001	On the Borderline	Connie
2002	Impostor	Midwife
2002	ZigZag	Ms. Tate
2002	Ten Tiny Love Stories	Nine
2002	Resurrection Blvd.		Director Episode: "Justicia"
2002–2003	Boston Public	Superintendent Elizabeth Vasquez	2 episodes
2003	CSI: Miami	Mercedes Escalante	Episode: "Simple Man"
2003	The Brothers Garcia		Director Episode: "It Was Fun While It Lasted"
2004	The Hollywood Mom's Mystery	Theresa Shoe	Television film
2004	Suburban Madness	Clara Harris	Television film
2004	Maya & Miguel	Rosa Santos	Voice
2004	The Incredibles	Mirage	Voice
2004	NCIS	FBI Agent Lina Reyes	Episode: "Terminal Leave"
2004–2005	Justice League	Paran Dul	Voice 4 episodes
2005	How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer	Lolita
2005	Without a Trace	Rosie Diaz	Episode: "Neither Rain Nor Sleet"
2005	Transamerica	Margaret
2005	Down in the Valley	Gale
2005	Sueño	Mirabela
2005	Keep Your Distance	Holly
2005	The Lost City	Miliciana Muñoz
2005	Numb3rs	Sonya Benavides	Episode: "Assassin"
2006	Minoriteam	Maria / Gold Digger	Voice Episode: "Landon in Love"
2007	Adrift in Manhattan	Isabel Parades
2007	American Dad!	Store Owner	Voice Episode: "American Dream Factory"
2007	Goal II: Living the Dream	Rosa Maria
2007	D-War	Agent Linda Perez
2007	Love Comes Lately	Esperanza
2008	Racing for Time	Flores	Television film
2008	A Single Woman	Storyteller
2008	Nothing like the Holidays	Anna Rodriguez
2009	Ghost Whisperer	Marla	Episode: "This Joint's Haunted"
2009	Mother and Child	Amanda
2009	Becoming Eduardo	Leticia
2009	Down for Life	Mrs. Castro
2011	Off the Map	Inez	Episode: "I'm Home"
2011	The Perfect Family	Christina Reyes
2013	Major Crimes	Rosa Vega	Episode: "Under the Influence"
2013	Modern Family	Pilar	2 episodes
2013	Blaze You Out	Dona
2013	Plush	Dr. Lopez
2014	Matador	Maritza Sandoval[10]	7 episodes
2015	Grandma	Carla
2015	Girl on the Edge	Esther
2015	Ana Maria in Novela Land	Sra Soto
2017	The Song of Sway Lake	Marlena	(final film role)

Video games

2004	The Incredibles	Mirage	Voice
2013	Disney Infinity

See also

• 
  Biography portal
  

• List of Cuban Americans

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab Elizabeth Pena Biography (1959–)
   


2. 
   ^ Weinstein, Shelli (October 15, 2014). "Elizabeth Pena, co-star of 'Jacob's Ladder' and 'La Bamba,' dies at 55". Toronto Sun. Retrieved October 16, 2014..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


3. 
   ^ Elizabeth Pena Dead: ‘Rush Hour’ Actress’ Death Shocks Fans
   


4. 
   ^ Canby, Vincent (March 29, 1985). "'Crossover Dreams', with salsa beat". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
   


5. 
   ^ ^ab Woo, Elaine (October 16, 2014). "Elizabeth Peña dies at 55; actress in 'The Incredibles,' 'La Bamba'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
   


6. 
   ^ Robles, Mario-Francisco (October 15, 2014). "Breaking: Prolific Hispanic Actress Elizabeth Peña Has Passed Away". LatinoReview.com. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
   


7. 
   ^ Couch, Aaron; Barnes, Mike. "Actress Elizabeth Pena Dies at 55". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
   


8. 
   ^ Maria Puente (October 23, 2014). "Alcoholism was a cause in Elizabeth Pena's death". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
   


9. 
   ^ "Certificate of Death" (PDF). California. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2015.
   


10. 
    ^ Bibel, Sara (April 3, 2014). "Tanc Sade, Elizabeth Pena & More Join Cast of El Rey's 'Matador'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
    

External links

• 
  Elizabeth Peña on IMDb

v t e Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female

Anjelica Huston (1987) Rosanna DeSoto (1988) Laura San Giacomo (1989) Sheryl Lee Ralph (1990) Diane Ladd (1991) Alfre Woodard (1992) Lili Taylor (1993) Dianne Wiest (1994) Mare Winningham (1995) Elizabeth Peña (1996) Debbi Morgan (1997) Lynn Redgrave (1998) Chloë Sevigny (1999) Zhang Ziyi (2000) Carrie-Anne Moss (2001) Emily Mortimer (2002) Shohreh Aghdashloo (2003) Virginia Madsen (2004) Amy Adams (2005) Frances McDormand (2006) Cate Blanchett (2007) Penélope Cruz (2008) Mo'Nique (2009) Dale Dickey (2010) Shailene Woodley (2011) Helen Hunt (2012) Lupita Nyong'o (2013) Patricia Arquette (2014) Mya Taylor (2015) Molly Shannon (2016) Allison Janney (2017)

Authority control	WorldCat Identities BNE: XX1266315 BNF: cb14022178t (data) GND: 14107051X ISNI: 0000 0001 1701 1329 LCCN: no96013954 SNAC: w61z4w1h SUDOC: 081479689 VIAF: 120319360

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