Ion Overman (born November 9, 1976) is an American actress, known for her roles on television, such as Gabriella Garza in ''

Port Charles ''Port Charles'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the series ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes pl ...

'' (2000–2002), Candace Jewell in ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene ...

'' (2004–2005), Detective Sam Blair in ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'' (2008–2010) and Detective Elena Ruiz in ''

Wisdom of the Crowd The wisdom of the crowd is the collective opinion of a diverse independent group of individuals rather than that of a single expert. This process, while not new to the Information Age, has been pushed into the mainstream spotlight by social infor ...

'' (2017–2018).

Early life

Overman was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Overman's mother is

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and her father is of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

heritage from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. At the age of thirteen, she made her debut at the Chip Fields Repertory Theater. She graduated from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and landed her first agent in 1993.

Career

Overman made her acting debut in the 1995 movie '' The Walking Dead''. In 2000, she was cast as Gabriela Garza in the ABC daytime soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'', a character who also appeared in the ''General Hospital'' spinoff ''

''. She left the role in 2002. She later went to appear in an guest starring roles on the number of prime time television series, include ''

Strong Medicine ''Strong Medicine'' is an American medical drama with a focus on feminism, feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on the Lifetime Television, Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It was created and produced in part by Who ...

'', ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...

'' and ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

''. From 2004 to 2005, she had a recurring role as Candace Jewell in the Showtime drama series ''

''. From 2005 to 2006, Overman starred in the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

sitcom '' Love Inc.'' The series was canceled after single season. She has appeared in the 2006 comedy film ''

Phat Girlz ''Phat Girlz'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nnegest Likké and starring Mo'Nique, as well as Kendra C. Johnson, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Godfrey, and Joyful Drake. Plot Jazmin Biltmore is a smart-mouthed, plus-si ...

'' and played Linda, Josh's (

Derek Luke Derek Nathanial Luke (born April 24, 1974) is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance as the titular character in the 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'', directed and produced by Denzel Washington. ...

) elitist and corrupt fiance in

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

's 2009 comedy-drama ''

Madea Goes to Jail ''Madea Goes to Jail'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on his 2006 play, and starring Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, RonReaco Lee, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Ferlito ...

''. In 2013, Ion starred in the ''Tunnel Vision'' as the detective trying to find the murderer and who befriends the murdered family's patriarch, who also barely survived being murdered. Overman had a recurring role on ''

'' from 2008 to 2010 playing Det. Sam Blair. She also had a recurring arc on ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' playing Maria Scott during season five. She also has appeared on ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...

'', ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'' and '' NCIS''. From 2017 to 2018, Overman co-starred as Det. Elena Ruiz on the CBS drama series, ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Ion Overman
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Overman, Ion 1976 births Actresses from Los Angeles American soap opera actresses American television actresses Living people American film actresses African-American actresses Actresses from California People from Los Angeles 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people