Ana Alicia

Early life Ana Alicia Ortiz Torres was born in Mexico City to Alicia Torres and Carlos Celestino Ortiz, who ran businesses in Acapulco, Mexico. She was the third of four children. Her family moved to El Paso, Texas, when she was six years old after her father's death, and she lived with her mother, three siblings, grandmother, and uncle in a house that her father had purchased for her grandmother. Upon graduating from high school in 1972, Ortiz earned a scholarship to Wellesley College. Upon arrival at Wellesley College, Ortiz auditioned and won the lead role for Jules Feiffer's Crawling Arnold.

On summer break after her freshman year, Ortiz auditioned for The Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theatre outside El Paso, Texas. The theatre offered her a position as a recurring actress in all feature productions. The opportunity would allow her to work with name actors from Hollywood and New York and receive a large weekly salary. She accepted the offer and also acquired her actor's equity card through her term. She left Wellesley College, 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.

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.

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 Law School at night back in Texas. Eventually, her acting opportunities suffered and she decided to pursue acting full-time. the love of Tyrell Sackett. The movie was based on the Louis L'Amour books The Sacketts and The Daybreakers. She played a major role in the 1981 TV movie Coward of the County, which also starred Kenny Rogers, and was based on his hit song of the same name. In 1982, she was cast in 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. Ana 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, Ana 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. Ana 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.

Alicia sang two songs on the soap, Falcon Crest. The first song was "Goody Goody", 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.

In October 2010, Ana 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".

Ana Alicia was the national spokesperson for The Humane Society of the United States. She has given out awards promoting Hispanic accomplishments in the media from the Golden Eagle Awards.

Filmography

+Film Year Title Role Notes 1981 Halloween II Janet Marshall 1989 Romero Arista Zelada 1991 Flamenco - un voyage andalou Herself Documentary 1994 To Die, to Sleep Kathy's Mother Voice 2012 The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making of Halloween II Herself Documentary

+Television Year Title Role Notes 1977–1978 Ryan's Hope Alicia Nieves 1978 The Next Step Beyond Angela Mendoza Episode "Portrait of the Mind: (1.9) 1979 The Hardy Boys Suzanne Clifford Episode "Life on the Line" (3.10) 1979 Battlestar Galactica Aurora Episode "Take the Celestra" (1.20) 1979 The Sacketts (TV movie) Drusilla 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Falina Redding Episode "Vegas in Space" (1.3) 1979 The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo Millie Rogers Episode "The Boom Boom Lady" (1.9) 1980 Galactica 1980 Gloria Alonzo Episode "Space Croppers" (1.9) 1980 Quincy, M.E. Nurse Nancy Berger Episode "No Way to Treat a Patient" (5.22) 1980 Roughnecks (TV movie) Yolanda Suarez 1980 Condominium (TV movie) Thelma Messenkott 1981 B. J. and the Bear Dolores Episode "Seven Lady Captives" (3.11) 1981 Coward of the County (TV movie) Violet 1981 The Ordeal of Bill Carney (TV movie) Lisa Saldonna 1982 McClain's Law Episode "A Matter of Honor" (1.8) 1982 Tattletales Herself 5 Episodes 1982–1988 Falcon Crest Melissa Agretti Cumson Gioberti 173 Episodes 1983 Happy Endings (TV movie) Veronica 1983 Battle of the Network Stars XV Herself - CBS Team 1984 Hollywood '84 (TV miniseries) Herself Episode (1.2) 1984 The Love Boat Samantha Gregory Episode " My Mother, My Chaperone/Present, The/Death and Life of Sir Alfred Demerest, The/Welcome Aboard: Part 1: (8.11) 1984 The Love Boat Samantha Gregory Episode "My Mother, My Chaperone/Present, The/Death and Life of Sir Alfred Demerest, The/Welcome Aboard: Part 2" (8.12) 1985 Hotel (TV series) Mary Ellen Carson Episode "Bystanders" (2.17) 1986 The CBS Easter Parade (TV special) Herself - Host 1987 Sex Symbols: Past, Present and Future (TV movie) Herself 1988 Moonlighting Mary Erin-Gates Episode "And the Flesh Was Made Word" (4.14) (as Ana-Alicia) 1989 Falcon Crest Samantha Ross 5 Episodes 1990 Miracle Landing (TV movie) Michelle Honda (as Ana-Alicia) 1991 Life Goes On Shanna Grey Episode "Lighter Than Air" (2.21) 1993 Rio Shannon (TV movie) Dolores Santillan 1994 Murder, She Wrote Sgt. Hilda Dupont Episode "Northern Explosion" (10.11) 1994 Acapulco H.E.A.T. Linda Davidson Episode "Code Name: Easy Riders" (1.12) 1994 Renegade Dr. Grace Prescott Episode "Sheriff Reno" (2.19) (as Ana-Alicia) 1996 Renegade Angela Baptista Episode "Hard Evidence" (4.19) (as Ana-Alicia) 1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Duchess of Earl / Businessman's Daughter Episode "The Pied Piper" (5.2) (Voice) 2004 E! True Hollywood Story Herself Episode "Scream Queens" 2015 Frontera Roja Soila Episode "Reencuentros" (1.1)

Music +Singing Year Title Song Notes 1985 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Mairzy Doates" Episode "Cold Comfort" (4.23) 1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Goody Goody" Episode "Cold Hands" (6.23) 1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Body and Soul" Episode "Body and Soul" (6.24) 1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Body and Soul", "Goody Goody" Episode "Loose Cannons" (6.25)

Theatre YearTitleRoleNotes1973"The Odd Couple"Pigeon SisterAdobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater"Busybody" Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater "Boeing, Boeing"Adobe horseshoe Dinner Theater

Awards and nominations