In 1940 Rodriguez was a 15-year-old nightclub star, singing and dancing with Cuban pianist and bandleader Anselmo Sacasas and his Royal Havana Orchestra.

Reporter Will Davidson raved about Rodriguez: "This raven-haired vocalist sings as much with her eyes and hands and her entire body as she does with her voice.

She and Cabell were hired by Havana's Saica Films to appear in a two-reel movie short, Cuban Rhythms.

[citation needed] Rodriguez went back to New York until 1945, when she signed with Republic Pictures for an appearance in the feature film Mexicana starring Tito Guízar, Constance Moore, and Leo Carrillo.

"[10] By 1951 she had indeed become a new Lupe Vélez, starring in Republic's hectic musical comedies like Cuban Fireball (1951) and Havana Rose (1951).

Later, Rodriguez worked in a few additional films for Paramount, MGM, and Embassy Pictures, including Rio Bravo in 1959.

That same year Gene Autry announced plans to film the story of Fidel Castro's sister-in-law Deborah, then in the news as a fighter during the Cuban revolt.

During a nightclub engagement in Havana, 19-year-old Estelita Rodriguez met Mexican singer Chu-Chu Martinez.

"[13] In November 1950 Rodriguez met actor Grant Withers, 20 years her senior and having married four times, when they appeared together in a San Francisco charity show to entertain 7,000 wounded veterans.

Recognizing that she was best known for her Lupe Vélez-styled comedies, she bought the screen rights to Spitfire, Clyde Ware's book biography of Vélez, while the manuscript was in galley proofs.

On March 12, 1966, Estelita Rodriguez Pego was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home near North Hollywood in Van Nuys, California.

Columnist Walter Winchell reported: "Local Latins are still mourning the sudden death of Estelita Rodriguez, a flu victim.