Velda González, Puerto Rican actress and politician, Died at 83

  Actor, Politician

Velda González de Modestti was born on April 10, 1933, and died on April 20, 2016.

She was a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, comedian, politician and former Senator.

Velda was a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1981 to 2005.

She started her artistic career as part of the University of Puerto Rico ballet directed by Madame Herta Brauer.

She also discovered herself as both an instructor and actress in theater, television, radio, and films.

She started to gain fame as part of the cast of El colegio de la alegría, with Tommy Muñíz.

But, her most famous role was as Azucena, the maid in the comedy sketch La criada malcriada, back in 1965.

The role was so popular that González continued doing the show for 15 years.

Velda González’s namesake of “criada” (maid in Spanish) even gave a name to a local tomato sauce called Criada.

She also served as producer of a variety show called De fiesta con Velda at the end of the 60s.

Velda González also performed in several films like El último gángster, Una mujer para los sábados, Fray Dólar, Prohibido amar en Nueva York, Romance en Puerto Rico, and others.

Over the period of her career, she won several local awards, most notably the Agüeybanás de Oro for Distinguished Comedy Actress of the Decade (1965–1975), and Comedy Actress of the Year for three consecutive years (1969 to 1971).

Velda González was also recognized by the New York Latin ACE Awards as Best Comedy Actress in 1971 and 1978.

Velda’s last performance was in “Las Chicas Del Calendario” two months before she passed away in April 2016.

Velda González passed away at 83 yrs old.