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Beverly Hills, exclusive, Lupe Velez, Mexican Spitfire, movie star suicide, old Hollywood tragedy, Sofia Vergara, suicide
Beautiful actress Lupe Velez, the Sofia Vergara of her day, was famous for not only her passionate acting and love life (plenty of paramours and a marriage to “Tarzan” aka Johnny Weismuller, pictured above with Lupe) but also for a devastating tragedy and urban myth: that she died with her head in a toilet after committing suicide once she found out she was pregnant by a new lover who “didn’t want to marry her.”
It appears the tempestuous Lupe preferred death over unwed motherhood, and the actress carefully scripted the last moments of life. Her plan? Dress in a beautiful gown trimmed with flowers, lie down on her silk-covered movie star bed, overdose on Seconal sleeping pills and drift off to death.
But the scene didn’t play out like the 36-year-old fiery bombshell intended, and gossip vultures descended. Word leaked out that the lifeless Lupe wasn’t found sleeping peacefully on her bed, and rumors began to swirl, reaching an ugly crescendo in the underground best-selling book “Hollywood Babylon.” Author Kenneth Anger claims Lupe was found drowned with her head in the toilet after throwing up the remains of a spicy last meal.
For years, fans and officials have searched unsuccessfully for death scene photos to prove once and for all what really happened the night of Dec. 14th, 1944 at Lupe Velez’s Rodeo Drive home, but no pictures could be found and her file had mysteriously “disappeared” from the police department.
But now, thanks to a source close to the case, we’ve recovered the only known official photo from the death scene. Here, published for the first time, a look at how Lupe Velez really died. Kenneth Anger got it wrong. Lupe was found on the floor, not in the bathroom “jammed down the toilet bowl” as he described the scene.
Beverly Hills Police Department Senior Forensic Specialist and book co-author Clark Fogg as well as BHPD facial analysis experts are 100% convinced this is a photo of Lupe’s final exit scene, a conclusion they came to using today’s CSI tools and clues surrounding the photo.The reverse side of the photograph has “Lupe Velez” handwritten with pencil and the front side of the image appears with an official photo identity adhesive label marked number “4” on the top section. A microscopic and ultra-violet examination of the image revealed several tags underneath. These tag numbers were standard during that time period, and investigators used them in order to match case notes with the files. (Typically, as the case progresses, photographs are relabeled to condense the number of images presented to a coroner’s inquest or the District Attorney’s office, hence the multiple tags.)
Another clue: the provenance of the photo. It was discovered in the private files of a respected detective from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, along with other documentation describing the suicide scene. This detective was assisting the BHPD with the Lupe Velez case.
As you can see in the images below (the first is a newspaper photo of Lupe in her casket, the second a close-up of the recently discovered photo), she had recently bleached her hair blond, yet another re-invention for the actress who made her mark in Hollywood with brilliant comedic performances.
Hopefully this photo will forever put to rest the untruths that besmirched the legacy of this talented, temperamental and beautiful actress who broke barriers and delighted audiences with her inimitable style. Lupe’s final curtain call: a Hollywood ending of tragic proportions for the actress and her unborn child.
*You can find out more about Lupe’s ill-fated love affair with the father of her unborn child as well as the tragic misunderstanding that led to her decision on p. 53 of our book, where you can also read the suicide notes she left behind. Click to order: http://www.amazon.com/Beverly-Hills-Confidential-Century-Scandals/dp/188331870X/ref=sr_sp-atf_image_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369352227&sr=8-1&keywords=beverly+hills+confidential
A rare photo of Lupe’s lover, Harald Ramond, at her funeral.
Beverly Hills Confidential 
Lupe Velez lived across the street from my family and me. Her home was on the southeast corner of Rodeo Drive and Elevado Avenue. We lived three houses south of her on the other side of the street. My father, Noel Madison, knew her fairly well and I met her on a couple of occasions, but I was still young….around 14.
Never seen such a clean scene of a suicide. Just a smudge on a towel. Not a hair out of place and perfect lipstick? Give me a break. The Hollywood brass must have cleaned her up is all I can guess. Sad because it romantisizes suicide.
Actually, I read somewhere else that “She” staged it that way. She knew her death picture would be in headlines the following day so she fixed herself up prior to taking sleeping, so she wouldn’t look bad in the pictures. Talk about vanity even in death!
Actually, looking at the picture of Lupe Velez dead on the bed, it didn’t look at all like her!
We can see why people might think it’s not Lupe, but look carefully at her casket photo to compare and we think you’ll see it’s the same person.
I agree with that it is Lupe Velez. I have read that she got herself dressed up for the occasion too, so this fits the scenario. The faces are the same, and she was blonde when she died too.
Finally Lupe released that stupid myth created by Kenneth Anger. A star like she should be remembered for his joy, movies and beauty.
The rictus of death changes a little faces, she looks like Miroslava Stern, another beauty of Mexican cinema.
It’s not that clean a scene. Is that a chair that has been knocked over in the top right? Is that blood/lipstick on the towel? Why did she have a towel in her hand when she had planned to die peacefully on her bed? Have the police used the towel to cover up some on her hand? Thoughts Beverly Hills Confidential?
If she died in her bed, why the picture shows her on the ground with her head on a pillow ?
She appeared to have laid out the bed with flowers, etc. for her “final exit”. It’s possible she went to the bathroom, and never made it back to the bed.
Fascinating. An aunt on my husband’s side was an actress who appeared in the Spitefire movie with Lupe. Her name was Elizabeth Risdon. This is very helpful for me putting together family research, also material for a story on 1940s Hollywood for a crime story I am writing. Many thanks.
Elizabeth Risdon appears in the movie ‘The Roaring Twenties” as Pricilla Lane’s mother. James Cagney is Eddie Bartlett, Frank McHugh is Danny Green. Good Film.
I have not seen this film but Elizabeth was in so many good ones. Are you a fan?
Lupe has dark hair when she is in the coffin… why? Is a wig?. In picture with number 4, she is blonde. And someone is right, she looks like Miroslava Stern. Peace for la niña Lupe.
That is most certainly NOT Lupe Velez! I immediately noticed the difference in their noses. Aside from that, Ms. Velez wouldn’t have laid down for her eternal rest wearing shoes.
I agree! It’s not Lupe Velez. The nose is a tell. Check out the pictures on the Lupe Velez – The Tragic Tale of The Mexican Spitfire.
Just an opinion: Lupe could have took a leave of absence for 9-10 months in Mexico,
had the baby, gave it to her family to raise. She wouldn’t have been the only actress who hid a baby. Lupe, I wish you would have stayed around. Miss You! Manzifeld Seven.
When I first heard of Lupe and the tragedy that followed, this is exactly what I thought. There were other ways of handling this situation, even by Hollywood’s standards. What a waste of a talented actress. I’ll be going to Mexico City soon and visit her grave.