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Sofía Vergara
Born	Sofía Margarita Vergara July 10, 1972 (1972-07-10) (age 36) Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia
Other name(s)	La Toti
Occupation	Model and actress
Official website

Sofía Margarita Vergara¹ (born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian model and actress. Since she was raised bilingual in English and Spanish, this his been an expedient in her making the transition from being a performer in Latin America in Spanish to becoming one in the United States in the English language. Dubbed "Sofia Viagra"²³, Vergara was already rather well-known in North America from her modeling work, and her first notable acting job in English was in the movie Chasing Papi.

Biography

Personal life

Vergara was born in Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia.² Her mother is a homemaker and her father produced cattle for the meat industry.⁴⁵ "Toti"¹ was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara, who works for WTVJ in Miami, Florida. She grew up in her hometown of Barranquilla and was raised in a well-off family, attending a private bilingual Spanish/English school. Vergara was married at the age of 18 to her childhood sweetheart,² and she gave birth to her son Manolo in 1992⁶ at the age of 20.⁴ After the break-up of her marriage, Vergara studied pre-dentistry at a university in Colombia for three years.⁴ Then, many opportunities arose to work in modeling and in show business, and Vergara decided to pursue these in Latin America. Soon she decided to move to Miami, Florida, to take advantage of opportunites and to move away from unrest in Colombia (her older brother⁷ had been murdered in 1998¹ during an attempt to kidnap him that went awry⁴). She brought her son, mother, and sister with her.

Vergara's son Manolo lives in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, where he goes to high school.

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. Having been raised rather conservatively and religiously, this was confusing at first. 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."⁸. Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of 17 in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America.⁹ 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 at the age of 20, where she worked as a model on the runway 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 series which sent her to exotic places all over the world (a travel series similar to the U.S. show Wild On!). 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 on 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. These were wide sellers in Latin America, and they also appeared in the North American market. Vergara appeared in Spanish-language television ads, and she posed in swimsuits for posters for Miller Lite beer.

Vergara is 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, and she has naturally light brown/sunbleached-blonde hair⁶ (for movies and television, she is sometimes asked to color it brunette to make her look more typically 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.

Vergara currently plays Alicia Oviedo in the Colombian version of the television show Desperate Housewives, which is called Amas de Casa Desesperadas. She also appears 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.

She will be starring in the 2009 Madea Goes to Jail, a film adaptation written and directed by Tyler Perry.¹⁰

In 2002, Vergara was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer.²

Sofia has recently done a commercial for the Cadillac Escalade, where she defies the common view that women prefer a vehicle with numerous cupholders, saying researchers should get to know "....a different kind of woman."^{citation needed}

Filmography

• Fuego En La Sangre
• Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns
• Dirty Sexy Money
• Amas de Casa Desesperadas
• The Knights of Prosperity
• Big Trouble
• Chasing Papi
• Soul Plane
• The 24th Day
• Grilled
• Lords of Dogtown
• Hot Properties
• 4-Bidden
• Four Brothers
• National Lampoon's Pledge This
• My Wife And Kids

References

External links

Film portal

• Sofía Vergara at the Internet Movie Database
• Miami Beach USA - Sofia Vergara interview with photos.
• Sofia Vergara at TV.com
• So Hood Magazine - Sofia Vergara Interview mentions starting her own shoe line