Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- Actress Carmen Zapata , whose most visible film role was as a choir nun in `` Sister Act , '' died Sunday at her Los Angeles home . She was 86 . Zapata 's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors her six decades of work on the stage , which began in New York in 1946 . Her death from heart problems was confirmed by a representative at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts in Los Angeles , which Zapata co-founded in 1973 . She was `` an accomplished actress , translator , theater producer , and community leader who was knighted by King Juan Carlos of Spain , '' according to her biography on the group 's website . Zapata , a Mexican-American born in New York , founded the theater group to promote bilingual stage productions . The goal was to `` instill cultural pride to Spanish-speaking audiences , and serve as an introduction to the rich and eloquent history of the diverse Hispanic culture to English-speaking audiences , '' the website said . She was 19 when she made her Broadway debut as a member of the chorus in `` Oklahoma . '' She initially performed under the stage name Marge Cameron at a time when discrimination against Hispanic actors was more common . Her television and film résumé is slim until the 1970s , when she began landing acting jobs on series including `` Room 222 , '' `` Bonanza '' and `` McMillan & Wife . '' In 1971 , she was hired for a recurring role on `` The New Dick Van Dyke Show . '' Other shows that decade in which she appears in multiple episodes include `` Adam-12 , '' `` Love , American Style , '' `` Marcus Welby , M.D. , '' `` Medical Center '' and `` The Streets of San Francisco . '' She often played different characters in the same series , according to IMDB.com . Zapata 's television roles in the 1980s included several episodes as a nurse in `` Trapper John , M.D . '' and 34 episodes on the TV soap `` Santa Barbara . '' She was cast as one of the nuns in the choir in Whoopi Goldberg 's `` Sister Act '' in 1992 and the 1993 sequel , `` Sister Act 2 : Back in the Habit . '' People we 've lost in 2014 . CNN 's Jane Caffrey contributed to this report .
Zapata 's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors her work on the stage . She was `` actress , translator , theater producer , and community leader '' Zapata co-founded a theater group to promote bilingual stage productions . She was 19 when she made her Broadway debut in the chorus in `` Oklahoma ''