Constance Marie

Constance Marie has been a very busy actress, juggling two primetime series: The 20th Century Fox TV / Greenblatt Janollari one-hour drama "American Family" (2002), which airs on PBS and the new Warner Bros. / ABC half-hour sitcom, "George Lopez" (2002).

On the critically praised _"American Family" (2002)_ , Marie stars alongside Edward James Olmos, Sonia Braga, Esai Morales and Raquel Welch, starring as Nina, a daughter in the Gonzales family and a sexy legal aid attorney, whose liberal and political ideas are constantly challenged by her conservative father "Jess", played by Olmos. "American Family" (2002) is the PBS's first-ever original television series, with principal funding provided by PBS, CPB and Fox Television, and international distribution being handled by Twentieth Century Fox.

On "George Lopez" (2002), Marie stars as Angie Lopez, George's wife and the mother of his two children. The series stars stand-up comedian George Lopez and will air during the last half hour of Marie's other series, American Family.

Marie was seen starring as Yolanda in the highly celebrated Samuel Goldwyn film, Tortilla Soup (2001). She played the daughter of Raquel Welch, who coincidentally stars as her aunt in the TV series.

Marie's thriving career on both the small and big screen began when, as a teenager in Los Angeles' underground breakdancing scene, she was selected out of a group of 500 hopefuls to dance in David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour.

Upon arriving back in Los Angeles, Marie was cast as a dancer in the movie Salsa (1988). The film's choreographer introduced her to Steve Tisch, who gave Marie her very first acting job and an amazing one at that: a series regular role as Penny on CBS's "Dirty Dancing" (1988).

While TV was Marie's first job, she began to desire work in feature films as well. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before Marie was working in features, starring as Toni Sanchez in the critically recognized 1995 Newline feature My Family (1995), directed by Gregory Nava. The project was also the first of many times Marie has worked with fellow actor and friend Edward James Olmos.

Marie went on to win praise from fans for her portrayal of Tejano music legend Selena's mother, Marcella Quintanilla, in the blockbuster film Selena (1997). Less than four years older than her on-screen daughter (portrayed by Jennifer Lopez, Constance Marie underwent four hours of extensive make-up in order for her to look like Selena's mother. She has continued to work almost non-stop since.

TV producer Gary David Goldberg offered Marie a role as Michael J. Fox's antagonist love interest, Gabby, on the ABC series "Spin City" (1996), a stint that helped the series achieve some of its highest ratings to date. Series regular offers were pouring in and Marie found herself starring as Gabriella Diaz, on the NBC series "Union Square" (1997).

The cancellation of the highly publicized Union Square allowed the in-demand Marie to quickly jump into another role, as Detective Toni Brigatti on the CBS series "Early Edition" (1996), where she played series lead Kyle Chandler's love interest for two seasons. Marie went back to her dancing roots to portray Inez Cortez, a salsa champion on the FOX TV series "Ally McBeal" (1997).

Other credits include the NBC pilot The Underworld (1997) (TV) opposite Kevin Pollak and the Mario Van Peebles-directed ABC pilot, "Missing Persons".

In addition to her numerous film and television starring roles, Marie co-starred in the comedy See Spot Run (2001) and the 2000 Sundance Film Festival favorite Dancing in September (2000). She appeared in two episodes of the series "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (1998) for ABC, and a recurring role on the series "For Your Love" (1998) for the WB.