Desperate Housewives Actress Lupe Ontiveros Dies at 69

Lupe Ontiveros, who starred in Selena and The Goonies and had a recurring role on Desperate Housewives, died of liver cancer Thursday evening, CNN reports. She was 69.

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The Mexican-American actress was considered a pioneer for Latin American actors in Hollywood. In 2009, she told NPR she had appeared as a maid more than 150 times, but wasn't only pigeonholed to such roles. In Selena, she played Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who was convicted of killing the real-life singer who was the subject of the film.

More recently, she played Juanita Solis, the mother-in-law to Eva Longoria's Gaby, on Desperate Housewives.

"I'm deeply saddened at the news of my dear friend Lupe Ontiveros passing. She was more than a colleague to me, she was my family. My heart is with your family Lupe...," Longoria tweeted Friday.