Lupe Ontiveros | Longtime actress, 69

LOS ANGELES - Veteran actress Lupe Ontiveros, 69, best known for her role in the movie Selena, has died.

Close friend Rick Najera said the actress, who appeared in dozens of films and TV shows over her 35-year career, died Thursday night of cancer.

Najera said she was surrounded by family and friends, including actors Esai Morales and Edward James Olmos, when she died at a hospital in Whittier, a Los Angeles suburb.

Ms. Ontiveros played Yolanda Saldivar in Selena. Her other credits include As Good As It Gets, Real Women Have Curves, The Goonies, and Chuck & Buck.

The actress, born Guadalupe Moreno in Texas, once estimated she had played a maid more than 300 times. - AP