ESTELITA RODRIGUEZ BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Estelita Rodriguez was born on July 2nd, 1928 in Guanajay, Cuba.  At the age of nine she began performing on the stage.  When she turned fourteen she relocated to New York and began performing at the Copacabana and by age fifteen MGM offered her a contract in Los Angeles, California. 
 
However, after living in Los Angeles for some time, MGM never cast her in a film so she decided to return back to New York.  In 1949 she was offered a five year contract with Republic Pictures and was given her first film role with them in, "Belle of Old Mexico" (1949) followed by a number of Roy Rogers Westerns.
 
When her contract ended with Republic she decided to free lance but also was seen performing at Coconut Grove and the Waldorf Empire Room.  She was also given a chance to have her own starring series.  In 1958 after she was seen in he film, "Rio Bravo" (1959) starring John Wayne she retired from the industry.  However in 1966, she returned to take on a role in, "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter".
 
Rodriguez  married a total of four times throughout her lifetime.  Her first husband was Chu Chu Martinez and they had one child before divorcing. She then married, Grant Withers in 1953 and two years later this marriage ended in divorce.  Her third time to marry was to Ismael Alfondo Halfss in 1956 and again this marriage was short lived ending in 1960.  Her fourth marriage was to Dr. Ricardo A. Pego in 1961 and they remained together until she passed away at the age of forty seven in Los Angeles, California on March 12th, 1966 after suffering from Influenza.  She is interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. 

 
Filmography

1966 Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter 
1966 I Spy
1965 Laredo 
1961 Coronado 9
1960 Father Knows Best 
1959 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond 
1959 Rio Bravo 
1953 Sweethearts on Parade 
1953 Tropic Zone 
1952 South Pacific Trail 
1952 Tropical Heat Wave 
1952 The Fabulous Senorita 
1951 Pals of the Golden West
1951 Havana Rose 
1951 In Old Amarillo 
1951 Cuban Fireball 
1950 California Passage 
1950 Hit Parade of 1951
1950 Sunset in the West
1950 Twilight in the Sierras 
1950 Federal Agent at Large
1950 Belle of Old Mexico 
1949 The Golden Stallion 
1949 Susanna Pass 
1948 Old Los Angeles
1948 The Gay Ranchero 
1947 On the Old Spanish Trail
1945 Mexicana 
1945 Along the Navajo Trail 
1945 Vidas Solitárias