Biography for
Vanessa Marcil More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

15 October 1968, Indio, California, USA

Birth Name

Sally Vanessa Ortiz

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Vanessa Marcil was born on October 15, 1968, in Indio, California, USA, to Peter Ortiz, a contractor, and Patricia Marcil Ortiz, an herbalist. She grew up in Palm Desert with her parents and her two older sisters Tina and Sherry and her older brother Sam. When Vanessa was 8, she started acting in plays and even performed her own song at a 6th grade talent show in which she won. Soon afterward, she began pursuing an acting career and starred in several theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital" (1963) in 1992.

She made her feature film debut in The Rock (1996) starring opposite Nicolas Cage as well as starring in a made-for-television movie To Love, Honor and Deceive (1996) (TV) in 1996. She stayed with "General Hospital" (1963) until 1998 and then left to join the cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) as Gina Kincaid, a former ice skater replacing Tiffani Thiessen as the show's vixen. She met actor Brian Austin Green on the show and the two had a baby together named Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green born in March of 2002.

In the fall of 2002, she made her long awaited return to "General Hospital" (1963) reprising her role as Brenda Barrett, garnering her a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actress" in 2003. Vanessa later joined the cast of the NBC drama "Las Vegas" (2003) in which she stars as Sam Marquez, a casino host. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles with her son Kassius.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Revitalizations@aol.com

Spouse

Carmine Giovinazzo

(11 July 2010 - present)

Trade Mark

Uses her most recent, married name for on-screen credit

Trivia

Her father Peter is of Mexican descent. Her mother Patricia is of French, Italian, and Portuguese descent. She is the youngest of four children. All of her family remains living in Indio, California, USA.

As a child, she was given the option of skipping second grade along with a friend. She and her parents decided against it.

Attended Indio High School, Indio, California. Was part of the Circle Theatre Acting Company in Indio.

Attended College of the Desert, Palm Desert, California, where she studied law.

Has a tattoo on her lower back of a tribal symbol representing peace and love in the universe.

Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1996. Was offered the cover and a layout in Playboy but she declined. She is reportedly very shy about revealing her body.

Is a vegetarian.

Has two dogs named Woof and Joey.

Performed her own song at a 6th grade talent show and won.

Named in honor of actress Vanessa Redgrave.

She has designed a line of children's clothing called, 'Kass' (named in honor of her son Kassius) for Africa. A portion of the proceeds will go to help build schools and open centers to support and empower mothers and their children in Africa.

Was offered the role of Nell Porter on "Ally McBeal" (1997) but was forced to turn it down because she had already signed on to "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990). The role was then given to Portia de Rossi.

Auditioned for the part of Nancy in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) however, the part was eventually given to Jennifer Esposito, since the director felt her beauty would give less attention to the lead actors of the film.

Opened Patricia House in Los Angeles, which will aid women who can no longer care for their children. Created a hotline for these women to have their babies placed in good homes.

She has suffered from agoraphobia.

She remarked on "Today" (1952), 5 November 2004 that she is the great granddaughter of French mime Marcel Marceau, though she never met him.

Named #19 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list. Named #92 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

Has a grandmother named Sally.

Named #92 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

Loves to ride motorcycles.

Named on People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" list (2008), reportedly for being a muse to musician Prince, who wrote his 1994 song "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" about her.

Is best friends with "The Biggest Loser" (2004) trainer Jillian Michaels who is the godmother of her son Kassius.

Married Carmine Giovinazzo, from "CSI: NY" (2004), on July 11, 2010 in New York.

Step-mother of her son Kassius is Megan Fox.

Gave birth to her first child at age 33, a son Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green on March 30, 2002. Child's father is her ex-boyfriend, Brian Austin Green.

Personal Quotes

"Because of my crazy work schedule, I have become something of a master at changing my clothes while driving. The men driving next to me love it." - on driving to work while changing clothes.

"Acting probably saved my life. It gave me a home and a safe place to let out all of my emotions and have it be OK." - in having it be an outlet.

"I don't know any woman who doesn't have an anxiety attack about wearing a bathing suit. I was on the show ("General Hospital" (1963)) for two years before they got me to wear a bathing suit and I almost had a heart attack the whole time".