'Modern Family' Actress Elizabeth Peña Cause of Death Due To Drinking

As Mstars reported, Elizabeth Peña from Modern Family passed away at the age of 55. According to TMZ the actress has died of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol abuse.

Most recently Peña played Sofia Vergara's mother on Modern Family where she was struggling with the disease for months before the time of her death.

It is reported that she had acute gastrointestinal bleeding hours before her death, which in time, caused her heart to stop.

As TMZ first reported the news, the certificate issued for Elizabeth Peña shows, "cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol" this was one of the four listed causes of her sudden death last week.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey explained that Peña's death certificate was on file with the county Public Health Department and public record, which was signed by a private doctor.

As we previously stated, the other reasons for death include the gastrointestinal bleeding, cardiopulmonary arrest and cardiogenic shock all as a result of cirrhosis of the liver.

The Cuban born actress's family has yet to release a statement regarding this trying time. The La Bamba actress was survived by her husband, Hans Rolla, and their two children.

She has appeared in films such as La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, Lone Star, Batteries Not Included, Vibes and Rush Hour. In 2002, she starred in Showtime's Resurrection Blvd. 

Peña was an advocate of her roots, stating in a 1996 interivew with Dallas Morning News, "In the United States, all Spanish-speaking people are lumped into one category," Peña said. "But we're all so different. Argentinians are completely different from Mexicans. Mexicans are completely different from Cubans. Cubans are completely different from people from Paraguay and Uruguay."