America Ferrera

Vocation

Notable

Family

American actress whose portrayal of the title character in the American TV series "Ugly Betty" put her firmly in the public eye. She won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for the role. As a young woman whose healthy-looking body weight bears no resemblance to the typical Hollywood thinness, she previously had played in movies" Real Women Have Curves" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." Ferrera is the youngest of six children born to immigrant parents. Her father was born in Puerto Rico and her mother was born in Honduras. The acting bug gripped her early, and she began showing off her talent at age 8 in community and school performances. While a student at the University of California, she landed her first Hollywood role in 2002 in "Real Women Have Curves." She followed that with "Sisterhood," some appearances in TV series, and an off-Broadway play "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead." "Ugly Betty" premiered in 2006 to rave reviews. The series features her as a fashion-industry misfit, complete with braces, outfits that are fashion faux pas, and a moral goodness that is appealing at the fictional company. In early 2007 she was awarded both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award. She became engaged to her long-time boyfriend, Ryan Piers Williams, in mid-June 2010, a few months after her hit show "Ugly Betty" aired for the last time. Link to Wikipedia biography