Life and career

Early life and career in theatre

Ortiz was born in Manhattan, and is the daughter of Angel L. Ortiz, a former Philadelphia City Council member of Puerto Rican descent, and an Irish American mother. As a child, Ortiz originally dreamed of becoming a ballerina, and she studied ballet for eight years, until the pain of dancing en pointe forced her to pursue a different artistic discipline. Ortiz graduated from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Switching to singing, Ortiz attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City and later the University of the Arts in Philadelphia before making her professional stage debut in a regional theater production of Dangerous Liaisons. Her additional stage credits include portraying Chrissy in a European touring production of Hair, regional theater productions such as Dog Lady and the Cuban Swimmer and in the South Coast Repertory Theater's production of References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot. After joining LAByrinth Theatre Company, she appeared off-Broadway in In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, which also co-starred Puerto Rican actress Liza Colón-Zayas and was directed by Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and named one of the 10-best plays of 1999 by the magazine Time Out New York.

Ortiz appeared in several television shows including NYPD Blue, Everybody Loves Raymond, Commander In Chief, ER, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. She had her first series regular role in short-lived NBC comedy series Kristin (2001), opposite Kristin Chenoweth. She later starred in another short-lived sitcom, called A.U.S.A. in 2003, and later had recurring roles in the FX drama Over There, and ABC series Boston Legal.

Ugly Betty and other roles

In 2006, Ortiz was cast as Hilda Suarez, the lead character's sister, in the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. Originally, Ortiz had auditioned for the Betty Suarez role, but it went to America Ferrera instead. Ortiz said in 2008, "I was super plain. I just put on some glasses and kept my hair kind of flat and layered on the clothing", describing what she wore when auditioning for the role of Betty. "I just wanted them to remember me, so that I could be involved in the future". Ortiz was one of two Philadelphians who were regulars on Ugly Betty, the other being Mark Indelicato, who played her son Justin. Another connection to the city is co-star Becki Newton (who played Amanda Tanen), who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

In addition to her role on Ugly Betty, Ortiz was active in films, which include starring roles Tortilla Heaven, and Labor Pains co-starring her former Ugly Betty co-star, Lindsay Lohan. She also had a voice role in Batman: Gotham Knight, and starred in the made for television movie Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story in 2008. Ortiz also had a guest-starring role on Army Wives during its second season. She played a waitress named Sandi. She also appeared in the 2010 music video for Enrique Iglesias and Juan Luis Guerra's "Cuando me enamoro".

Current career and Devious Maids

After Ugly Betty was ended in 2010, Ortiz was cast as lead character in ABC drama pilot True Blue about San Francisco homicide detectives reunited to solve the murder of one of their own. The pilot was not picked up to series. In next year she appeared in the comedy film Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, and starred in another pilot, called Outnumbered for Fox. This pilot also was not picked up to series. She later had a recurring role of HBO comedy series Hung. Ortiz also starred in the independent films Sleeping with the Fishes, and Such Good People.

In 2012, Ortiz was cast as lead character of ABC comedy-drama pilot Devious Maids, created by Marc Cherry. On May 14, 2012, the pilot was not picked to series by ABC for the 2012-13 United States network schedule. However, on June 22, 2012, Lifetime picked up the pilot with a thirteen-episode order. The series premiered June 23, 2013, on Lifetime with positive reviews from critics. In show, she plays the lead role of Marisol Duarte (the alias of Professor Marisol Suarez). Interestingly, this will be the second series in which her character shares the last name of her previous character from another series. Also in 2013, Ortiz was special guest star in ABC primetime soap opera, Revenge, as Bizzy Preston. In 2014, Ortiz guest-starred in the two another ABC shows: How to Get Away with Murder produced by Shonda Rhimes, and Black-ish.

On October, 2014, Ortiz was cast alongside Katherine LaNasa, Jeremy Sisto and Tyler Blackburn in the gay-drama, Love is All You Need?, based on the 2011 short film with the same name.

In an interview she was seen saying that she is incredibly proud of her show Devious Maids.

Personal life

Ortiz currently lives in Los Angeles. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, horseback riding, softball, and water sports, and writes poetry. She married musician Noah Lebenzon on June 9, 2007 in Rincón, Puerto Rico. The couple was expecting their first child on June 25, 2009. On Saturday, June 27, 2009, Ana and Noah welcomed a daughter, named Paloma Louise Lebenzon. Paloma was born at 4:25 p.m. and weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. The second child, a son named Rafael, was born on September 24, 2011.

Ortiz is active in raising awareness against domestic abuse, citing her own experiences when she was in her 20s and involved in a romantic relationship that turned physically abusive. In an article for USA Today, Ortiz notes that the final scene from the Ugly Betty episode "How Betty Got Her Grieve Back", in which Hilda sat on her bed staring at the bathroom after realizing that Santos had died, was drawn from that experience: "I used some of that subconsciously ... It's something that is always with me".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Condition Red	C Block Inmate
2000	King of the Korner	Isabel
2002	Mr. St. Nick	Lorena
2002	Lehi's Wife	Kelly	Short film
2003	Carolina	Christen
2007	Tortilla Heaven	Chicana
2008	The Winged Man	Wanda	Short film
2008	Batman: Gotham Knight	Anna Ramirez	Voice
2009	Labor Pains	Donna
2011	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	Gail Fletcher
2011	The Last Generation	Diner Chick	Short film
2012	Noah's Ark: The New Beginning	Tier	Voice
2013	Sleeping with the Fishes	Kayla Fish	Nominated - Imagen Award for Best Actress
2014	Such Good People	Detective Diane Kershman	Film
2015	Trust Fund	Meredith	Post-production
2016	Love is All You Need?	Susan Miller	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: The Movie	Pregnant Woman	Television film
2001	Kristin	Santa Clemente	Series regular, 13 episodes
2001	Everybody Loves Raymond	Natasha	Episode: "Raybert"
2000, 2002	NYPD Blue	Luisa Lopez / Maria Alvarez	Episodes: "A Hole in Juan" and "Dead Meat in New Deli"
2002	Strong Medicine	Elena Delgado	Episode: "Family History"
2002	Do Over	Mrs. Rice	Episode: "Rock 'n' Roll Parking Lot"
2002	ER	Laura	Episode: "Hindsight"
2003	A.U.S.A.	Ana Rivera	Series regular, 13 episodes
2003	Greetings from Tucson	Angela	Episode: "Eegee's vs. Hardee's"
2003	Life on Parole	Loretta	TV pilot
2004	North Shore	Ana Green	Episode: "Secret Service"
2004	Foster Hall		TV pilot
2005	Blind Justice	Letitia Barreras	Episode: "Past Imperfect"
2005	Freddie	Gina	Episode: "Rich Man, Poor Girl"
2005	Over There	Anna	Recurring role, 7 episodes
2006	Commander in Chief	Isabelle Rios	Episode: "Wind Beneath My Wing"
2006	Boston Legal	A.D.A. Holly Raines	Recurring role, 4 episodes
2006	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Belinda	Episode: "Some of My Best Friends Are Portuguese"
2008	Army Wives	Sandy	Episode: "Loyalties"
2008	Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story	Valerie Valleja	Television film Nominated - Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006-10	Ugly Betty	Hilda Suarez	Series regular, 85 episodes ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie (2007) Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress - Television (2007) Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in Television - Comedy (2009) Nominated - Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress - Television (2008-09) Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (2010) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007-08)
2010	True Blue	Maureen Minillo	TV pilot
2011	Outnumbered	Sue Tulley	TV pilot
2011	Hung	Lydia	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2013-present	Devious Maids	Marisol Suarez / Duarte / Deering	Series regular Imagen Award for Best Actress - Television (2014) Nominated - ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in Television - Comedy (2013) Nominated - Imagen Award for Best Actress - Television (2015)
2013	Revenge	Bizzy Preston	Episode: "Resurgence"
2014	How to Get Away with Murder	Paula Murphy / Elena Aguilar	Episode: "Smile, or Go to Jail"
2015	Black-ish	Angelica Rodriguez	Episode: "Black Santa/White Christmas"
2015	Marry Me	Hailey	Recurring role, 4 episodes

Charities

Ana Ortiz supports the following charitable cause: Heart Disease.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]