Mariana Klaveno (born October 25, 1979) is an American actress best known for her television roles as Lorena Ball (Krasiki) in the HBO series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

'', as the psychopath Abby in the

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

movie ''

While the Children Sleep ''While the Children Sleep'' (also known as ''The Sitter'') is a 2007 American made-for-television horror film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Gail O'Grady, William R. Moses, Mariana Klaveno, Tristan Lake Leabu, Madison Davenport, and Stac ...

'', and as movie actress Peri Westmore in the Lifetime comedy-drama ''

Devious Maids ''Devious Maids'' is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by Marc Cherry, produced by ABC Studios, and executive produced by Cherry, Sabrina Wind, Eva Longoria, Paul McGuigan, Larry Shuman, David Lonner, John Mass, Pau ...

''. In 2014, she starred as Detective Janice Lawrence in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

crime drama series ''

Stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

''.

Early life and education

Klaveno grew up with three siblings on a family-owned-and-operated farm in

Endicott, Washington Endicott is a town in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 289 at the 2010 census. History Endicott was platted in 1882 and named for William Endicott Jr of the Oregon Improvement Company. Endicott was officially incor ...

. She graduated magna cum laude from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

with a B.A. in Theater, studying there with

Jon Jory Jon Jory is a theatrical director instrumental in the development of Actors Theatre of Louisville; he is also widely rumored to be the writer behind the pseudonym Jane Martin. Childhood Jory is a child of Hollywood character actors as his father ...

Career

Klaveno was cast in HBO's ''

'' in the role of Lorena, the vampire "maker" of the main character Bill Compton. She first appeared in the fifth episode of season one and became a regular with starring credits in the second half of season two. Klaveno was nominated with the starring cast for the "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" at the

16th Screen Actors Guild Awards The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2009, were presented on January 23, 2010 at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California for the fourteenth co ...

in January 2010. She and her costar

Stephen Moyer Stephen Moyer (born Stephen John Emery; 11 October 1969) is an English film and television actor who is best known as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series ''True Blood''. His first television role was in 1993 as Philip Masefield in the TV ad ...

were awarded the "Holy Shit Scene of the Year" award at the Spike

2010 Scream Awards The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films, hosted and sponsored by Spike. The show was created by executive producers Michael Levitt, Cindy Levitt, and Casey Patterson. The performer on ...

for their scene in season three where Bill turns Lorena's head around 180 degrees while having sex. Klaveno starred in the Lifetime movie ''

'' in the role of Abby Reed, opposite

Gail O'Grady Gail Ann O'Grady (born January 23, 1963), an American actress and producer, is best known for her roles on television. Her roles include Donna Abandando in the ABC police drama ''NYPD Blue'', and Helen Pryor in the NBC drama series ''American Drea ...

. She guest starred in the television series '' Standoff'', '' ER'', and two episodes of the sixth season of ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

''. In 2012, Klaveno was cast in the series regular role of Peri Westmore in the Lifetime comedy-drama series ''

''. When

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

originally passed on the pilot for ''Devious Maids'', Klaveno was cast as

Lily Munster Lily Munster (née Dracula) is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, ''The Munsters'', originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in ''The Munster ...

in ''

Mockingbird Lane ''Mockingbird Lane'' is a 2012 American television special developed as a dark re-imagining of the 1960s CBS sitcom ''The Munsters''. It was developed for NBC by Bryan Fuller. The pilot episode aired on October 26, 2012, as a Halloween special, ...

'' (NBC's 2012 remake of ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

''). However, she was not granted release from her contract on ''Devious Maids'' as it was still in contention for series order on

. Klaveno was then replaced by

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

. ''Devious Maids'' was later ordered to series by Lifetime and premiered on June 23, 2013. Klaveno was a regular cast member for the first season and made guest appearances in the second season. In 2014, she was cast as detective Janice Lawrence in the

crime drama series, ''

'', alongside

Maggie Q Margaret Denise Quigley (Vietnamese: Lý Mỹ Kỳ; born May 22, 1979), professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American actress, activist, and model. She began her professional career in Hong Kong, with starring roles in the action films ''Gen- ...

and

Dylan McDermott Dylan McDermott (born Mark Anthony McDermott; October 26, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series ''The Practice'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best ...

Personal life

In 2012, Klaveno married longtime boyfriend Luis A. Patiño, a graduate of

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

. They have one child.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaveno, Mariana American film actresses American television actresses Living people University of Washington School of Drama alumni Actresses from Washington (state) People from Whitman County, Washington 21st-century American actresses 1979 births