Actress Elizabeth Peña’s Nephew: ‘She Was Our Star’

By Jamilah King Oct 16, 2014

Elizabeth Peña, the Cuban-American actress who starred in several treasured films and on the hit show "Modern Family," died on Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes. She was only 55 years old.

Before "Modern Family," Peña was known for her memorable roles in "La Bamba," "Tortilla Soup," and as a voice actress in "The Incredibles." In a moving memorial at Latino Review, Peña’s nephew, the writer and director Mario-Francisco Robles, remembered his aunt’s accomplishments:

I didn’t call her Elizabeth, or Liz, or Leechy. She wasn’t Aunt, Auntie, Tia, or Titi. To me…she was Ñaña. That was the name I assigned my aunt when I was just a baby, and it’s the name I continued to refer to her as when I visited her in Los Angeles last week. She was our star. She was my star. We celebrated her triumphs. We sweated through her struggles. As a family, even when we didn’t always talk, we would all do whatever we could for one another. When I got married 3 years ago, despite their being some logistical hurdles, she flew herself, her husband, and both her kids to attend my special night in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Dancing with her, my uncle, and my cousins under the stars that night is a memory I’ve always cherished, and it’s now one that I’ll have to hold onto for the rest of my life.

My Ñaña is gone. 

Read more at Latino Review