Rosie Perez Biography

Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director and community activist.

Early life

Pérez was born in Brooklyn, New York, in the neighborhood of Bushwick, to Puerto Rican parents. Her mother, Lydia Pérez (née Fontañez), a singer, was married to Arturo Pérez at the time of Rosie's birth. However, Rosie's biological father is Ismael Serrano, a merchant seaman with whom her mother had an affair. Much of her young life was spent in foster care. She attended Grover Cleveland High School, which is located in Ridgewood, in the New York City borough of Queens, and Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California.

Career

Pérez was first noticed in a dance club by Spike Lee in 1988, who hired her for her first major acting role in Do the Right Thing. Pérez started her career in the late 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train and later choreographed music videos by Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Diana Ross, LL Cool J and The Boys. She was the choreographer for the dancing group the Fly Girls who were featured on the Fox television comedy program In Living Color.

She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Perez had her third major role in the hit comedy White Men Can't Jump co-starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.

Pérez was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless. In 1997, she starred in Perdita Durango, a controversial film in which many scenes of excessive violence, sex and nudity were edited out of the version released in the United States but remained intact in the version released throughout Latin America.

She provides the voices of Click, the camera, on Nick Jr.'s Go, Diego, Go! and Chel, a beautiful native woman in the DreamWorks Animation film The Road to El Dorado. She played corrupt police officer Carol Brazier in the Judd Apatow-produced film Pineapple Express, co-starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Perez appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer Neal Baer said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother. She suffered a serious injury during the filming of the episode. Most recently, Perez is the subject of a released album by Felt entitled Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez.

Injury

Rosie Perez was injured in 2009 while filming an episode of Law & Order SVU. Her neck was injured when she was forcibly shaken as part of a scene. She had spinal disc herniation in her neck and underwent surgery for the condition. A year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama. In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show, claiming that the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.

Activism

Pérez is an activist for Puerto Rican rights. Her film Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) documents her activism. She starred in and directed the Spanish AIDS PSA campaign "Join the Fight" for Cable Positive and Kismet Films. The campaign featured actor Wilmer Valderrama, BET's Julissa Bermudez, Telenovela actor Erick Elías, singer/actress Lorena Rojas, 2006–2007 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera and actress Judy Marte. An English-language campaign was also directed by Liev Schreiber. President Barack Obama appointed her to The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She was sworn in on February 2, 2010.

On January 6, 2000, she was arrested for disorderly conduct in Manhattan following a rally to protest U.S. Navy air weapons training, as well as other forms of payload on the government training range owned at Vieques, itself a small island off the coast of then-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.

Perez serves as the chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership, a New York City arts education nonprofit that uses arts integrated education programs to close the achievement gap.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Do the Right Thing	Tina
1991	Night on Earth	Angela
1992	White Men Can't Jump	Gloria Clemente	Nominated "? Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
1993	Untamed Heart	Cyndi	Nominated "? New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Fearless	Carla Rodrigo	Berlin International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance (Special Mention) Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress tied with Anna Paquin Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture Nominated "? New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1994	It Could Happen to You	Muriel Lang
	Somebody to Love	Mercedes
1997	A Brother's Kiss	Debbie
	Perdita Durango	Perdita Durango	Fantafestival Award for Best Actress
1999	The 24 Hour Woman	Grace Santos	Also Producer Nominated "? ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Actress
2000	The Road to El Dorado	Chel	Voice
2001	Human Nature	Louise
	Riding in Cars with Boys	Shirley Perro
2003	From the 104th Floor	Narrator	Voice
2004	Exactly	Angela	Short
2005	All the Invisible Children	Ruthie	Segment "Jesus Children of America"
	Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tu Lo Sepas!	Herself	Director Documentary
2006	Home
	Just Like the Son	Mrs. Ponders
2008	The Take	Marina De La Pena	Nominated "? Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
	Pineapple Express	Officer Carol Brazier
2012	Won't Back Down
TV Films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Criminal Justice	Barbara Von Busch
1995	In a New Light: Sex Unplugged	Herself	Host
1997	Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground	Mystery Girl	Also producer Segment "Love on the A Train"
2004	Copshop	Heaven
	Lackawanna Blues	Bertha	Television Movie Nominated "? Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress - Television Nominated "? NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2006	Lolo's Cafe	Maria	Voice
2009	Exit 19	Lorna
2010	Lies in Plain Sight	Marisol Reyes	Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Special Nominated "? NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated "? Imagen Foundation Award for Best Actress - Television
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	21 Jump Street	Rosie Martinez	Episode "2245"
1990	In Living Color	Herself	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography (1990, 1992, 1993) choreographer, seasons 1-4
1990"1991	WIOU	Lucy Hernandez	Episodes "Without Prejudice" "Labored Relations" "Mother Nature's Son" "They Shoot Sources, Don't They"
1995"1997	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Thumbelina / Witch	Episodes " Thumbelina" " Hanselito y Gretelita"
2002	Widows	Linda Perelli	Episodes " Hour One" "Hour Two" "Hour Three" "Hour Four"
1995"2004	Frasier	Francesca / Lizbeth	Episodes " Roz in the Doghouse (1995)" " Crock Tales (2004)"
2005"2008	Go, Diego, Go!	Click, the camera	Episodes "Diego Saves the Humpback Whale" "Linda the Llama Saves Carnaval" "Diego's Wolf-Pup Rescue" "The Bobos' Mother's Day" "Tuga Helps the Moon" "Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween!"
2008"2009	Lipstick Jungle	Dahlia Morales	Nominated "? ALMA Award for Best Actress in Television - Comedy Episodes "Pandora's Box" "Let It Be" "The F-Word " "The Lyin', the Bitch and the Wardrobe Dahlia Morales" "Thanksgiving " " La Vie En Pose"
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Eva Banks	Episodes "Hardwired"
2011"2012	The Cleveland Show	Choni / Aunt Chonie	Episodes "There Goes El Neighborhood" "Y Tu Junior Tambien" " Episode #3.11"
2012	Nurse Jackie	Jules	Episodes "Slow Growing Monsters"

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans