Sara Ramirez Biography

Sara Elena Ramirez (born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-born American singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her role as Dr. Callie Torres in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2006-16), and as the original Lady of the Lake in the 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Early life

Ramirez was born in Mazatln, Sinaloa, in the northwestern coast of the Pacific coast of Mexico. Her father was Mexican and her mother was of Mexican and Irish-American descent. When Ramirez was eight years old, her mother took her to Tierrasanta, in San Diego, California, where they settled. After completing the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in San Diego, California, Ramirez attended and graduated from the Juilliard School (B.F.A. '97, drama) in New York City, where she refined her skills as an actress. Ramirez speaks both Spanish and English fluently.

Career

She debuted on Broadway playing Wahzinak in Paul Simon's The Capeman (1998). In 1999, she appeared in The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm (1999) and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for her role. She has also appeared in A Class Act (2001) and Dreamgirls (2001), and in 2002 she performed in The Vagina Monologues with Tovah Feldshuh and Suzanne Bertish.

In 1998, she played the voice of Lammy in the video game UmJammer Lammy, a spin-off of PaRappa the Rapper, both on Sony's PlayStation console. She later reprised her role as Lammy in the PlayStation 2 video game sequel PaRappa the Rapper 2, and has a smaller role, unlike the game that preceded it.

In 2004, Ramirez was cast as the Lady of the Lake in the Eric Idle/John Du Prez musical Spamalot, based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical opened on Broadway in 2005 to widespread acclaim, and Ramirez in particular was singled out for her performance, winning several awards including the 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Following her success on Broadway, Ramirez joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy in a recurring role as Dr. Calliope 'Callie' Torres in the show's second season. For the third season she became a series regular. On a special Grey's Anatomy-themed episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she revealed that top executives from ABC loved her performance in Spamalot so much that they offered her a role in any ABC show she wanted. She picked Grey's, of which she was a fan. Ramirez provided a cappella vocals in the song "Silent Night" for the soundtrack of the show's sixth season episode "Holidaze," airing November 19, 2009. On December 21, 2009, this version of the song was released as a single on iTunes. Ramirez's voice was also showcased in the musical episode of Grey's Anatomy, Ep. 718 "Song Beneath the Song", which aired March 31, 2011. Her solo music debut was an extended play released on March 27, 2011 through the iTunes Store. It included three original songs, as well as a recording of "The Story", performed on the musical episode of Grey's Anatomy. After 10 seasons on Grey's Anatomy, Sara left the show with season 12 being her last.

Personal life

On June 17, 2011, Ramirez and longtime partner, Ryan DeBolt, a business analyst at TIMEC, got engaged in Paris, France. They were married on July 4, 2012 in a private beachside ceremony in New York.

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	You've Got Mail	Rose
1999	UmJammer Lammy	Lammy (voice)	Video Game
2000	Star Patrol	Lieutenant Vena	TV movie
2000	Spin City	Carol Quinn	Episode: "About Last Night"
2000	Third Watch	Gwen Girard	Episode: "The Tys That Bind"
2000	Welcome to New York	Linda	Episode: "The Crier"
2000	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mrs. Barrera	Episode: "Baby Killer"
2001	PaRappa the Rapper 2	Lammy (voice)	Video game
2002	Spider-Man	Police officer at carjacking
2002	Washington Heights	Belkis
2002	Baseball Wives	Gabriella Martinez	TV movie
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Lisa Perez	Episode: "Chameleon"
2002	Chicago	Female ensemble
2003	Naked Hotel	Unknown	TV movie
2003	As the World Turns	Hannah	1 episode
2003	When Ocean Meets Sky	Peggy Fears (voice)
2004	NYPD Blue	Irma Pacheco	Episode: "Who's Your Daddy?"
2006-2016	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Callie Torres	Recurring (Season 2) Main Cast (Season 3-12)
2013-present	Sofia the First	Queen Miranda (voice)

Stage productions

Year	Title	Role	Theatre
1998	The Capeman	Wahzinak	Marquis Theatre; January 29 - March 28, 1998
1999	The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm	Performer	Longacre Theatre; April 25 - May 9, 1999
2001	A Class Act	Felicia	Ambassador Theatre; March 11 - June 10, 2001
2001	Dreamgirls	Ensemble	Ford Center for the Performing Arts; September 24, 2001
2002	The Vagina Monologues	Performer	Westside Theatre; November 12 - December 1, 2002
2005	Spamalot	The Lady of the Lake	Shubert Theatre; February 14 - December 18, 2005

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
1999	The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical
2005	Monty Python's Spamalot	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
2005	Monty Python's Spamalot	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance
2005	Monty Python's Spamalot	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
2006	Grey's Anatomy	Satellite Awards	Best Cast - Television Series
2007	Grey's Anatomy	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2007	Grey's Anatomy	Imagen Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Television
2007	Grey's Anatomy	ALMA Award	Outstanding Actress - Television Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie
2008	Grey's Anatomy	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2008	Grey's Anatomy	ALMA Award	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Television Series
2009	Grey's Anatomy	ALMA Award	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
2011	Grey's Anatomy	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2011	Grey's Anatomy	ALMA Award	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Television Series
2012	Grey's Anatomy	ALMA Award	Favorite TV Actress - Supporting Role

Discography

Extended plays

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US Indie	CAN
Sara Ramirez	Released: March 27, 2011 Label: Atrevida Format: digital download	37	7	38

Singles

• "Silent Night" (2009)

Other charted songs

List of songs, with selected chart positions

Song	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		US	CAN	IRL
"The Story"	2011	69	72	34	Sara Ramirez

Soundtracks

Year	Title	Chart positions
		US	US Indie
2005	Monty Python's Spamalot [Original Broadway Cast Recording] Released: May 3, 2005 Label: Decca Records Format: Compact disc, digital download	69	"?
2011	Grey's Anatomy: The Music Event Released: March 31, 2011 Label: ABC Studios Format: digital download	24	5
""?" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.