Yolanda Veloz; Half of Noted Dance Duo
Yolanda Veloz, who with her husband, the late Frank Veloz, formed an internationally famous ballroom dance team in the 1930s and 1940s, has died. She was 84.
Mrs. Veloz died Friday at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank.
The couple were pictured on the cover of Life magazine in October, 1939, he dressed in his signature white tie and tails and she in a backless ball gown.
The Veloz team danced in the films “The Champagne Waltz” starring Fred MacMurray, “The Thrill of Brazil” starring Ann Miller and “The Pride of the Yankees” starring Gary Cooper.
The dancing duo sprang to fame after winning several first-place cups in New York dance contests in the late 1920s for the tango, rumba and other elegant “Latin lover” dances.
Booked into the prestigious Empire Room in Chicago’s Palmer House for two weeks, they stayed 18 months and earned their reputation as professional dancers.
They went on to headline shows throughout Europe and the U.S. before they began their work in Hollywood.
Frank Veloz died in 1981. Mrs. Veloz is survived by a daughter, Yolanda Veloz-Kopell, and a son, Guy Veloz.
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