Personal info
Known for
Actor
Gender
Female
Birthday
23 September
Location
New Jersey, United States
Edit pageElizabeth Peña
Biography
Elizabeth Maria Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014) was an American actress. Her work in films included 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. Peña also voiced Rosa Santos in Maya and Miguel.
Peña was born on September 23, 1959, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised by her Cuban immigrant parents. Her father, Mario, was a playwright, director, actor, and designer in their native Cuba, who opened up the Latin American Theatre Ensemble after establishing a life for him and his family in New York.
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. Ving Rhames and Esai Morales were her classmates, who would later star with her in Jacob's Ladder, La Bamba, and Resurrection Blvd.
Peña married television producer William Stephan Kibler in 1988. Their marriage later ended in divorce. In 1994, Peña married Hans Rolla, with whom she had two children, Joey 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.
