Sofía Vergara

Caption	Sofía Vergara at the 2009 American Music Awards
Birthname	Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara
Birthdate	July 10, 1972
Birthplace	Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Othername	La Toti
Occupation	Actress/Model
Yearsactive	1995–present
Website	sofiavergara.com

Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian actress, model, and entrepreneur. Vergara had been widely known in South and Central America initially from her modeling work, and then in the late 90s for co-hosting several TV shows for the Hispanic network UNIVISION. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable acting job in English, the 2003 film Chasing Papi. Subsequently, she appeared in films, including two Tyler Perry films, Meet the Browns (2008) and Madea Goes to Jail (2009), receiving an ALMA Award nomination for the latter. She currently stars on the critically acclaimed ABC sitcom Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Personal life

Vergara was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her mother, Margarita Vergara Dávila de Vergara, is a homemaker, and her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, produced cattle for the meat industry. "Toti" Soon she decided to move to Miami, Florida, to take advantage of opportunities and to move away from unrest in Colombia (her older brother had been murdered in 1998

Career

Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach. Soon she was presented with attractive offers in modeling and television work, and she considered accepting them despite being raised both conservatively and religiously. According to an article in the January 2002 issue of Maxim, Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of 17 in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America. In order to support her son, mother, and younger siblings who needed her financial support in the absence of her father, who had left the family, Vergara dropped out of college to earn an income.

Vergara moved to Bogotá, Colombia, at the age of 20, where she worked as a runway model and on television. From 1995 to 1999, she was co-host with Fernando Fiore on Fuera de Serie ("Out of the Ordinary" or "Over-the-Top"), a travel series that sent her to exotic places around the world. It was telecast on the international Univision Spanish-language television network, and it made her a star in the Latin American market. It also gave Vergara television exposure in the United States via the Univision stations there. She co-hosted the Univision show A que no te atreves ("I Dare You"). She appeared as a guest star in the season-four opening of the HBO series Entourage.

Besides runway and catalog modeling work, Vergara did independent projects. She was photographed for posters and swimsuit calendars in 1998, 2000, and 2002.

Vergara is tall, and she has naturally blonde hair (for movies and television, she is sometimes asked to color it brunette to make her look more stereotypically Latina). Vergara was under an exclusive television contract with Univision for several years, and after it expired she accepted a role with the ABC network in the United States. Vergara appeared on the ABC situation comedies Hot Properties and The Knights of Prosperity. She currently stars on the ABC sitcom Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she was nominated for the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Vergara plays Alicia Oviedo in the television show Amas de Casa Desesperadas, the Colombian version of Desperate Housewives. Her character is essentially the Colombian counterpart to the Mary Alice Young character in the American show. She also appeared on the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money as Jeremy Darling's love interest. Vergara has made guest appearances in the Mexican telenovela Fuego En La Sangre.

In 2008, Vergara was 62 on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" list. In 2009, Vergara had a five-week stint on Broadway as "Mama" Morton in the revival of Chicago.

Filmography

References

External links

Official web page

Picture Gallery Sofía Vergara

"Interview with actress Sofia Vergara", So Hood Magazine, October 15, 2008

Churchville, Sarah. "Sofia Vergara", South Beach Magazine, no date

"Q&A; Sessions: Sofia Vergara", nocheLatina.com, May 5, 2009

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:People from Barranquilla Category:Colombian female models Category:Cancer survivors Category:Colombian actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Colombian expatriates in the United States Category:Colombian Roman Catholics