Ana Alicia

Ana Alicia
Born	Ana Alicia Ortiz (1956-12-12) December 12, 1956 Mexico City, Mexico[1]
Citizenship	American[2]
Alma mater	Wellesley College University of Texas at El Paso Southwestern University[3]
Occupation	Actress Voice actress Singer
Years active	1977–1997
Known for	Ryan's Hope Falcon Crest
Spouse(s)	Gary R. Benz (1994-present; 2 children)

Ana Alicia (born December 12, 1956) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as scheming heiress Melissa Agretti on the long-running primetime soap opera Falcon Crest.

Early life

She was born as Ana Alicia Ortiz in Mexico City to a clothing manufacturing executive mother and a father who worked in business.^[1] Her family moved to El Paso, Texas when she was a child. Upon graduating high school in 1973, Ortiz earned a scholarship to Wellesley College, but eventually left, instead pursuing her bachelor's degree in drama at the University of Texas at El Paso to be closer to her mother and three brothers.^[3] Her first professional role under an AEA contract was as one of the Pigeon Sisters in a production of The Odd Couple starring Bob Denver at The Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater in El Paso.^[4]

Career

After earning her degree in 1977, Ortiz moved to Los Angeles and started auditioning for roles in various productions. She won the part of Alicia Nieves on Ryan's Hope, a daytime soap opera, moving to New York City for taping. After fifteen months on the show, Ortiz moved back to Los Angeles part-time and kept auditioning while attending law school at Southwestern University at night back in Texas. Eventually, her acting opportunities suffered and she decided to pursue acting full-time.^[4]

Now going by "Ana Alicia" professionally, she landed several guest roles in episodic television, including Starbuck's love interest, Aurora, in the 1979 Battlestar Galactica episode "Take the Celestra" and Gloria Alonzo in the episode "Space Croppers" of the series sequel Galactica 1980. Between these she appeared as Falina Redding in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Vegas in Space." Next Alicia auditioned for the role of spoiled, selfish vineyard heiress Melissa Agretti on Falcon Crest as a replacement for actress Delores Cantú who had played Melissa for one episode in early 1982. Melissa went on to become the series' "love to hate" character and a firm fan favorite, as a worthy rival for the show's arch-villainess Angela Channing, played by Jane Wyman. In 1979 Alicia appeared in the made for TV movie The Sacketts as Drusilla, the love of Tyrell Sackett. The movie was based on the Louis L'Amour books The Sacketts and The Daybreakers. Alicia appeared in the 1983 TV-movie, Happy Endings, opposite John Schneider and her former Ryan's Hope co-star, Catherine Hicks.

In 1989, Ortiz appeared with Raúl Juliá in the movie Romero, her only non-television film role apart from Halloween II in 1981. Then in 1990, Alicia appeared in the 1990 made for TV movie Miracle Landing as flight attendant Michelle Honda. The film is based on an in-flight accident aboard Aloha Airlines Flight 243 that occurred in April 1988. Alicia continued to play guest roles on episodic television, including two episodes in the action series Renegade which reunited her with her former Falcon Crest screen husband Lorenzo Lamas. This was her last known acting role. She has since moved back to El Paso to raise her family.

Alicia sang two songs on the soap, Falcon Crest. The first song was called Goody Goody and is a famous 1936 song composed by Matty Malneck with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was first sung by Bing Crosby. The second song was Body and Soul. It was written by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton and Johnny Green in 1930. The song was presented by Libby Holman in the revue Three's a Crowd and used as the theme of the 1947 film, Body and Soul, becoming a jazz favorite.^[5]

In October 2010, Alicia appeared in a promotional video for the Norwegian television show Gylne Tider. She and other celebrities filmed a cover of The Beatles song "Let It Be."^[6]

Alicia is the national spokesperson for the Humane Society. She has given out awards promoting Hispanic accomplishments in the media from the Golden Eagle Awards.^[3]

Family

Alicia married Gary Benz on April 24, 1994; they have 2 children.

Filmography

Music

Theatre

Awards/Nominations

Books

References

External links

• Ana Alicia at the Internet Movie Database
• Ana Alicia at AllMovie