Julie Carmen

Julie Carmen is an American actress, dancer, and licensed psychotherapist. She came to prominence onscreen in the 1980s and 1990s, for her roles in John Cassavetes’ Gloria, Robert Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), and John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994).

She also starred in Fright Night Part 2 and Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid as well as a recurring role on the TV series Condo and Falcon Crest. She plays La Doña in Tales of the Walking Dead.

Acting Carmen was born in New York City of Afro-Cuban and Spanish/German ancestry. Her acting training was with Sanford Meisner at Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and with Uta Hagen and Alice Spivak at HB Studio. Carmen was on the Board of Directors of Women in Film for three years during which time she was the keynote speaker at the WIF Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, speaking about "The New Wave of Latinos and Latinas in Hollywood". Julie was on the Board of Directors of IFP/West for six years, during which time she created the John Cassavetes Award for emerging filmmakers who direct with the experiential style iconic of Cassavetes.

She has starred in a variety of films including Gloria directed by John Cassavetes, Night of the Juggler (1980), Comeback (1982) opposite Eric Burdon, Last Plane Out (1983), Condo, Blue City (1986), Robert Redford's The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Fright Night Part 2 (1988) as vampire Regine Dandrige, Paint It Black (1989), John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1994), NYPD Blue (1999) and King of the Jungle (2000) opposite John Leguizamo. Julie starred in Dawn Patrol (2014), You Can't Say No opposite Peter Fonda, and Windows on the World opposite Edward James Olmos.

Carmen appeared on television most recently starring as La Doña on Tales of the Walking Dead and guest starring as Sarah in the 2022 Fall season of Grey's Anatomy. Julie played the female lead in the 1992 NBC mini-series Drugs Wars: The Cocaine Cartel, as well as playing the mother of Angelina Jolie's character in the 1997 Hallmark Entertainment miniseries True Women and the female lead opposite Val Kilmer in Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid directed by Billy Graham. Julie played female lead opposite George C. Scott in two made for television movies, Finding the Way Home and Curacao (also called Deadly Waters). She was a series regular, as Linda Rodriguez Kirkridge, on the short-lived ABC sitcom Condo (1983), and guest starred as Nina, the environmental revolutionary in three first-season (1990) episodes of the HBO original comedy series Dream On.

She danced on Broadway in Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, and was resident choreographer at INTAR under the direction of Max Ferra. She studied dance at the Merce Cunningham and Erik Hawkins Studios, and Pilates at the original Joseph Pilates studio in NYC, which led to her 1979 teaching position at Ron Fletcher's Pilates Studio in Los Angeles. In 2007, she played the lead role Liz Estrada at the Getty Villa's commissioned update of Lysistrata.

As a producer, Julie Carmen is executive producer of the documentary feature film, Lico Jiménez the Ebony Liszt, directed by musicologist Isidro Betancourt about her great grandfather José Manuel Jiménez Berroa.

Psychotherapist In addition to her career in acting, she has subsequently pursued further study, becoming a licensed and practicing psychotherapist. She earned a B.S. in theater and choreography from the State University of New York Empire State, a master's degree in clinical psychology from Antioch College, and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She is also certified through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Alliance at the ERYT-500 level. Carmen is Director of Mental Health at Loyola Marymount University Yoga Therapy Rx and Director of Yoga Therapy for Behavioral Health supervised clinical practicum in co-operation with Venice Family Clinic. She published the article, "Informed Consent for Yoga Therapists" in Yoga Therapy Today through the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Carmen was trained as a drama therapist by Ramon Gordon of Cell Block Theater. She designed and led the drama therapy and yoga therapy programs at Passages Drug and Alcohol Residential Treatment Center. She was a yoga therapist at Monte Nido Eating Disorder Centers and the Los Angeles School District's Program for Pregnant Teens.

She was referenced in actress Suzanne Somers' books, A New Way to Age and Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones in the chapters titled Julie Carmen Yoga.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role 1980 Night of the Juggler Maria Gloria Jeri Dawn 1982 Comeback Tina The Man on the Wall Viktoria 1983 Last Plane Out Maria Cardena 1986 Blue City Debbie Torres 1988 Nancy Mondragon Corina Lovers, Partners & Spies Madonna Fright Night Part 2 Regine Dandridge 1989 Paint It Black Gina Bayworth 1991 Kiss Me a Killer Teresa Cold Heaven Anna Corvin 1994 In the Mouth of Madness Linda Styles 1996 África Isabel 2000 King of the Jungle Mona 2005 Angels with Angels Graciella 2007 Illegal Tender Nilsa 2009Falling Awake Angela Rose 2014 Last Weekend Maria Castillo Dawn Patrol Laura Rivera 2018 You Can't Say No Matilda 2019 Windows on the World Elena

Television Year Title Role Notes 1978 Guiding Light Carmen Monvales 2 episodes 1979 Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze Rose TV film 1980 Lou Grant Teresa Davis Episode: "Indians" 1981 300 Miles for Stephanie Rosa Sanchez TV film 1981 Nero Wolfe Dr. Lydia Proctor Episode: "What Happened to April" 1981 She's in the Army Now Private Yvette Rios TV film 1981 Fire on the Mountain Cruza Peralta TV film 1982 Cassie & Co. Sheila Episode: "The Golden Silence" 1982 Cagney & Lacey Carmen Episode: "Beyond the Golden Door" 1983 Condo Linda Rodriguez Main role 1983 Remington Steele Gina Barber Episode: "Steele Knuckles and Glass Jaws" 1984 Estrelita Episode: "Rabbit's Feet" 1984 T. J. Hooker Julie Mendez Episode: "Gang War" 1984 Who's the Boss? Teresa Episode: "Angela's First Fight" 1984 Matt Houston Fran Episode: "Caged" 1984 Highway to Heaven Elena Simms Episode: "Hotel of Dreams" 1985 Airwolf Teresa Guzman Episode: "Prisoner of Yesterday" 1985 Fame Diane Petit Episode: "Who Am I, Really?" 1985 Mary Ellen Bradshaw Segment: "Wish Bank" 1985 Hotel Teresa Episode: "Celebrations" 1985–1986 Falcon Crest Sofia Stavros Recurring role (season 5) 1988 Beauty and the Beast Luz Corrales Episode: "Ozymandias" 1988 Police Story: Burnout Kathy TV film 1989 Gideon Oliver Carlotta Guzman Episode: "The Last Plane from Coramaya" 1989 Billy the Kid Celsa TV film 1989 Manhunt: Search for the Night Killer Pearl Carrillo TV film 1989 Miranda TV film 1990 Dream On Nina Ferrara Episodes: "Three Coins in the Dryer", "Trojan War", "Up the River" 1991 Finding the Way Home Elena TV film 1992 Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel Judge Sonia Perez-Vega TV miniseries 1993 Curacao Julia TV film 1994 Seduced by Evil Rayna TV film 1995 Diagnosis: Murder Moriah Thomas Episode: "The Bela Lugosi Blues" 1995 ER Mrs. Lafferty Episode: "Motherhood" 1995 Rita TV film 1996 Top Gun: Fire at Will Amanda Moore Video game 1997 True Women Cherokee Lawshe TV film 1998 Gargantua Dr. Alyson Shaw TV film 1999 NYPD Blue Nydia Episode: "I'll Draw You a Map" 1999 Touched by an Angel Elisa Morante Episode: "The Letter" 2000 City of Angels Vanessa Medina Episode: "Weenis Between Us" 2000 Jackie TV film 2016 NCIS Mrs. Medina Episode: "Home of the Brave" 2022 Tales of the Walking Dead Alma Episode: "La Doña"

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 1991 Saturn Award Saturn Award for Best Actress Fright Night Part 2 1998 ALMA Award Outstanding Individual Performance in a Made-for-Television Movie or Miniseries in a Crossover Role True Women 1999 ALMA Award Outstanding Individual Performance in a Made-for-Television Movie or Miniseries in a Cross Role Gargantua 2002 ALMA Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture King of the Jungle 2010 TheWIFTS Foundation International Visionary Awards The Elizabeth Grant Entrepreneur Award 2016 Imagen Award Best Supporting Actress - Feature Film Dawn Patrol