On May 30, 2017, acclaimed actress Elena Verdugo, best known for playing Consuelo Lopez opposite Robert Young on Marcus Welby, M.D., passed away. She was 92 years old.

Elena Angela Verdugo was born on April 20, 1925 in Paso Robles, California. She began her acting career at the age of five in the 1931 feature film, Cavalier of the West. She graduated high school on the Fox studio lot and appeared as a dancer in the Don Ameche-Betty Grable studio musical Down Argentine Way. Throughout the 1940s Verdugo made numerous film appearances, including roles in several Universal Monster Movies, such as House of Frankenstein and The Frozen Ghost. At the same time, Verdugo enjoyed a career as a singer and dancer. She performed with the Xavier Cugat Orchestra and handled the vocals on his hit “Tico Tico,” which was used in the finale of the 1945 Sonja Henie film It's a Pleasure!.

Later on, Verdugo replaced Audrey Totter as the star of the CBS Radio comedy Meet Millie. She revised her role as the wisecracking secretary Millie Bronson on the CBS television version, which ran for four seasons, from 1952 through 1956. In 1969, Verdugo was cast as the warmhearted Consuelo Lopez on the TV medical drama, Marcus Welby, where she remained for seven seasons. This role earned her Emmy nominations for Supporting Actress in 1971 and 1972. Before running Dr. Welby's office, Verdugo had recurring roles on Redigo, The New Phil Silvers Show, Many Happy Returns, and Mona McCluskey. Additional film credits for Verdugo included Rainbow Island, Song of Scheherazade, The Big Sombrero, The Sky Dragon, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Thief of Damascus.

While filming the Abbott & Costello comedy Little Giant in 1946, Verdugo met screenwriter Charles R. Marion, the pair were then married and had a son. After their divorce, Verdugo married Doctor Charles Rosewall in 1972, and the two remained together until his passing in 2012. Verdugo's son, actor Richard Marion passed at the age of 50 in 1999.

Sharon Gless who had a recurring role as Kathleen Faverty on Marcus Welby, M.D., remained a close friend of Verdugo. On Facebook, Gless shared a post about Verdugo’s passing saying: “My dearest, longest-time friend … wonderful actress, funniest woman I ever knew. She was mischief till the end. It is not just the end of an era. It is the end of an epoch. The world is a less interesting place.”