R.I.P: 5 Latino Celebs We Lost in 2012

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Lupe Ontiveros

Born in Texas to Mexican immigrants, actress Lupe Ontiveros helped to pave the way for those Latina actresses who would come after her. Despite being typecast as the maid in more than 150 productions, Ontiveros never gave up her fight to break free of the stereotype. Some of her most memorable onscreen parts include playing the crazed fan club leader who murders the Latina sensation in 1997’s Selena, an overbearing mother who wants her daughter to forget about college and work in the family’s dress shop in 2002’s Real Women Have Curves, and as the mother-in-law and nemesis of Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) in ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Ontiveros earned a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her role in Real Women Have Curves and earned an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actress for Desperate Housewives. The talented actress passed away in California on July 26 of liver cancer.