Vanessa Marcil ( mar-SEL; born Vanessa Sally Ortiz; October 15, 1968) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Brenda Barrett on General Hospital, Gina Kincaid on Beverly Hills, 90210, and Sam Marquez on Las Vegas.
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Early life
Vanessa Marcil was born on October 15, 1968 in Indio, California to Patricia Marcil, a herbalist, and Pete Ortiz, a contractor and self-made millionaire. Marcil's mother is an American of French and Italian ancestry and her father is Mexican. She is the youngest of four children.
Career
Marcil acted in a number of theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the soap opera, General Hospital, in 1992. She garnered three Daytime Emmy Award nominations (in 1997, 1998, and 2003) for her portrayal, and she won in 2003 as Outstanding Supporting Actress. In February 1998, she was named Outstanding Lead Actress at the Soap Opera Digest Awards.
On June 14, 1993, she appeared in the Prince music video "Poorgoo," which was officially released in very limited numbers. In 1994, she was cast in the Prince music video "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and she also made People's 50 Most Beautiful list the next year. She made her feature-film debut in the film, The Rock (1996), in which she appeared opposite Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris.
