Sofía Vergara 6

Sofía Vergara
Biography

Birth name Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara
Other name La Toti
Birth date July 10, 1972
Birth place Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Occupation Actress and Model
Years active 1995–present


Personal Life and Career

Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara 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 two TV shows for the Hispanic network Univisión. 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 was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

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" was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara. She grew up in her hometown of Barranquilla and was raised as a devout Catholic in a well-off family, attending a private bilingual Spanish/English school.
Vergara was married at the age of 18 to her childhood sweetheart, and she gave birth to her son Manolo Gonzalez-Ripoll Vergara September 16, 1992, at the age of 20.

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 1998, 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 Univisión 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 Univisión stations there. She co-hosted the Univisión 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.

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.