Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020.
''Forbes'' (August 24, 2019). Retrieved on October 16, 2020.[Highest Paid TV Actresses in the World](_blank)
''Harper's Bazaar'' (October 25, 2018). Retrieved on October 16, 2020.
Vergara rose to prominence while co-hosting two television shows for Spanish-language television network
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...
in the late 1990s. Her first notable acting job in English was in the film ''
Chasing Papi
''Chasing Papi'' is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Linda Mendoza (in her feature film directorial debut) and starring Roselyn Sánchez, Sofía Vergara, Jaci Velasquez, and Eduardo Verástegui. The women discover that their boyfriend ha ...
'' (2003). She subsequently appeared in ''
Four Brothers'' (2005) and
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 filmma ...
's comedies ''
Meet the Browns'' (2008) and ''
Madea Goes to Jail'' (2009), receiving an
ALMA Award
The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and accurate portrayals of Latino ...
nomination for the latter. In 2009, she began playing
Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the
ABC comedy series ''
Modern Family
''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...
'' for which she was nominated for four
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, four
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
, and eleven
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
.
Vergara has also had roles in the films ''
The Smurfs
''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...
'' (2011), ''
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
'' (2011), ''
The Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...
'' (2012), ''
Machete Kills
''Machete Kills'' (also known as ''Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills'') is a 2013 American action exploitation film directed by Robert Rodriguez, with a screenplay by Kyle Ward, from a story by Robert and Marcel Rodriguez. Based on the eponym ...
'' (2013), ''
Fading Gigolo'' (2013), ''
Chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a ki ...
'' (2014), and ''
Hot Pursuit
Hot pursuit
Hot pursuit is a legal term.
Hot Pursuit may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Hot Pursuit'' (1984 TV series), a 1984 NBC television series
* ''Hot Pursuit'' (2006 TV series), a 2006 Court TV television series
* ''Hot Pursuit ...
'' (2015). She also had voice-over roles in the animated films ''
Happy Feet Two'' (2011), ''
Escape from Planet Earth
''Escape from Planet Earth'' is a 2013 computer animated comedy-adventure science fiction film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States and Entertainment One in Canada, directed by Cal Br ...
'' (2013), and ''
The Emoji Movie'' (2017). Vergara was also the highest-paid Hollywood actress in 2020. Since 2020, Vergara has been a judge on ''
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...
''.
Early life
Vergara was born to a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
family in
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Co ...
.
Her mother, Margarita Vergara de Vergara, was a homemaker, and her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, was a cattle rancher for the meat industry.
She was nicknamed "Toti" by her five siblings and many cousins.
Vergara initially studied
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...
for three years at
National University of Colombia
The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz ...
, but she left two semesters away from completing her degree to pursue opportunities in modeling and show business.
[
In 1998, her older brother Rafael was murdered during an attempt to kidnap him. Not wanting to be caught in the unrest that resulted in the murder, Vergara emigrated to the United States, settling in ]Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
.[ Her cousin and adopted sister, Sandra, is also a television actress in the United States.
]
Career
Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a beach, and she was quickly presented with offers of modeling and television work.[Stated on '']Inside the Actors Studio
''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel C ...
'', 2011. She was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." She made her first appearance, aged 17, in a Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi wa ...
commercial aired in Latin America. She then began studies at the Creative Workshops School of Acting, where Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has bee ...
also trained.
In 2011, Vergara was named the face of CoverGirl
CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics li ...
, with the first advertisements appearing in January 2012. In April 2011, she appeared in a Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi is a Diet drink, diet carbonation, carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio (soda), Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as ' ...
commercial with David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending ...
and another in January 2012. Also in 2011, it was announced that Vergara was designing a clothing line for Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
targeting soccer mom
The term soccer mom broadly refers to an American, middle-class, suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to youth sporting events or other activities, whether or not they are soccer relat ...
s and appeared in a number of commercials for Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
's Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
brand and State Farm
State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois.
Overview
State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the lar ...
. Vergara was supposed to star in '' The Paperboy'', an independent drama directed by Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...
. When shooting was delayed for a week and conflicted with her shooting schedule for the third season of ''Modern Family'', she dropped out. In July 2011, she finished filming the Farrelly brothers
Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including ''Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and ''There's Something ...
' ''The Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...
'', her first leading role in a major film. She said, "I play a mean woman that tries to manipulate the Three Stooges into killing her husband so that she gets all the money." In April 2012, she appeared in her son Manolo's YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
web series ''Vida con Toty''.
Vergara was the highest-earning woman in U.S. television, earning $19 million for the previous 12 months on a list released by Forbes.com
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
on July 18, 2012. Vergara was named one of ''People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' magazine's "50 most beautiful people", and named by ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' and ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'' as one of the most influential Latin women in Hollywood. Vergara received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
on May 7, 2015. In 2013, she signed endorsement contracts with Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi is a Diet drink, diet carbonation, carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio (soda), Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as ' ...
, Rooms To Go, and the medicine Synthroid. In 2015, ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' estimated Vergara's annual income at $28.5 million. She starred on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family
''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...
'' as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she was nominated for the from 2010 to 2013.
In 2014, Vergara became a brand ambassador for the American anti-dandruff shampoo brand Head & Shoulders
Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti-dandruff and non-dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble. It was introduced in the United States on 1 January 1961 based in Manhattan and used the slogan THE AMERICA AND WORL ...
. In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for ...
released a video in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting
On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff.
In a ...
; in the video, Vergara and others told the stories of the people killed there. As of September 2016, ''Forbes'' reported that Vergara was the highest-paid actress in television, bringing in $43 million in the past year. In March 2017, she reached a settlement with Venus Concept for alleged improper use of her likeness, which Vergara said created the false impression that she endorsed their beauty products. In February 2020, it was announced that Vergara would be a judge on ''America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...
'', starting with its fifteenth season. She returned for her second season in 2021, and her third in 2022.
Personal life
Vergara has naturally blond
Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color ...
e hair. For movies and television, she is sometimes asked to colour her hair dark brown or black to make her look more stereotypically Hispanic. Vergara was married at the age of 18 to her high-school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez. They had a son named Manolo, who was born in September 1991. They divorced in 1993. Vergara and her boyfriend Nick Loeb became engaged in 2012 after dating for two years. On May 23, 2014, Vergara announced that the engagement had been called off. Vergara and ''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 ser ...
'' star Joe Manganiello
Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...
became engaged on Christmas Eve 2014 after dating for six months. They married in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intrac ...
, on November 21, 2015.
Vergara was diagnosed with thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. Ca ...
in 2000. She had her thyroid removed, underwent radioiodine therapy, and made a full recovery. She takes medication to prevent hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism (also called ''underactive thyroid'', ''low thyroid'' or ''hypothyreosis'') is a disorder of the endocrine system in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as ...
. On May 9, 2011, Vergara's younger brother Julio was deported from the United States to Colombia after being arrested in April that year; Julio also had a longtime drug addiction and previous brushes with the law. Vergara told ''Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...
'' magazine, "To see somebody dying over 10 years, little by little, that's the worst punishment. Now he's like another person." During her December 2014 appearance on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's ...
'', Vergara revealed that she had become a United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
citizen
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
after getting a perfect score on her citizenship test
A citizenship test is an examination, written or oral, required to achieve citizenship in a country.
Debate
The requirements of a citizenship test is a method to control immigration.
Examples
* Australian citizenship test
* Canadian Citizensh ...
.
From 2015 to 2017, Vergara was involved in a legal dispute regarding the future of two fertilized embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
s produced by in vitro fertilization while she was still in a relationship with Loeb; the embryos were kept in storage in cryopreservation
Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where organisms, organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by co ...
in a medical clinic in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. Following the couple's split in 2014, Loeb filed a lawsuit for custody of the embryos in a California court, but he later dropped that lawsuit when the court demanded that Loeb identify two women who had abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
s after he had impregnated them.
In December 2016, a right-to-life
The right to life is the belief that a being has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including capital punishment, with some people seeing it as ...
lawsuit against Vergara was initiated in Louisiana with Vergara's embryos as plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...
s. The embryos were named "Emma" and "Isabella" in the lawsuit, and their "trustee" was listed as James Charbonnet, a resident of no relation to Vergara. The intent of the suit was to give the embryos a chance to further develop using a surrogate carrier, hence to be born, and to benefit from an inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Of ...
trust that had been created for them and is administered by Charbonnet. While a contract between Vergara and Loeb had been signed prior to the creation of the embryos stipulating that neither party could use the embryos without the consent of the other, the lawsuit had tried to void this agreement. Loeb had written “Keeping them frozen forever is tantamount to killing them,” in a 2015 op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...
in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. The suit also tried to terminate parental rights of Vergara because by keeping them in cryopreservation in a medical clinic she allegedly abandoned and neglected the embryos. The legal case was novel and took advantage of Louisiana's embryo laws
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
; the state passed a law in 1986 that declares embryos to be “juridical persons,” giving embryos the right to sue or be sued.[Sofia Vergara’s Frozen Embryos, “Emma” and “Isabella,” Are Suing Her](_blank)
RUTH GRAHAM, slate.com, December 8, 2016. In August 2017, a Louisiana judge dismissed the case on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
over the embryos, which were conceived in California.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music video
Theatre
* ''Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'' as Matron "Mama" Morton (2009)
Awards and nominations
In 2014, Vergara was ranked as the 32nd most powerful woman in the world by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
''; her position was 38 the previous year.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vergara, Sofia
1972 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
20th-century Colombian actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century Colombian actresses
American female models
American film actresses
American telenovela actresses
American television actresses
American television producers
American women television producers
American voice actresses
Colombian expatriates in the United States
Colombian female models
Colombian film actresses
Hispanic and Latino American actresses
Colombian telenovela actresses
Colombian television actresses
Colombian television producers
Colombian voice actresses
People from Barranquilla
People with acquired American citizenship
Ventriloquists