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Lauren Vélez (born November 2, 1964) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Vélez
Loraine Vélez

Loraine V?lez is an United States actress of Puerto Rican American descent and the twin sister of actress Lauren V?lez....
. Her most notable role is Lt. Maria LaGuerta on Dexter
Dexter (TV series)

Dexter is an American television drama series that airs on American pay TV Showtime. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and adapted for television by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Manos, Jr., who wrote the pilot episode....
.

z's parents moved from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
 in the early 1950s and lived in the Brooklyn
Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
 section of New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 where she and her twin sister were born. Their father was a New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 police officer
Police officer

A police officer is a Warrant employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes....
 who eventually bought a house in the middle class neighborhood of Rockaway, Queens, and moved there with his wife and eight children.






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Lauren Vélez (born November 2, 1964) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Vélez
Loraine Vélez

Loraine V?lez is an United States actress of Puerto Rican American descent and the twin sister of actress Lauren V?lez....
. Her most notable role is Lt. Maria LaGuerta on Dexter
Dexter (TV series)

Dexter is an American television drama series that airs on American pay TV Showtime. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and adapted for television by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Manos, Jr., who wrote the pilot episode....
.

Early years

Vélez's parents moved from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
 in the early 1950s and lived in the Brooklyn
Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
 section of New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 where she and her twin sister were born. Their father was a New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 police officer
Police officer

A police officer is a Warrant employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes....
 who eventually bought a house in the middle class neighborhood of Rockaway, Queens, and moved there with his wife and eight children. The sisters enjoyed setting up improvised plays and acting for the family since childhood. Vélez once played the part of a groundhog
Groundhog

The groundhog , also known as the woodchuck, land beaver or whistlepig, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots....
 in a second grade school play, after which she decided to be an actor.

After graduating from high school
High school

High school is the name used in some parts of the world to describe an institution which provides all or part of secondary education. The term originated in Scotland and spread to the New World countries as the high prestige that the Scottish educational system had at the time led several countries to employ Scottish educators to develop the...
, the twins both received scholarship
Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a Student financial aid award for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award....
s to attend The Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey

Alvin Ailey Jr. was an African-American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York Theater. Ailey is largely credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance....
 Dancing School. They also studied acting at The Acting Studio with James Price, and Lauren studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard. Vélez landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical Dreamgirls. Loraine would often step in for her sister in Dreamgirls.

On Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
, besides doing Dreamgirls, Vélez played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashad is a Tony Award-winning United States Actor, best known for her role as List of The Cosby Show characters#Clair Olivia Hanks-Huxtable on the 1984-1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
 in Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for theatre and film, winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards and the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize....
's Into the Woods
Into the Woods

Into the Woods is a Musical theatre with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway theatre in 1987....
. She also performed Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway

Off Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of Play , musical theater or revues performed in New York City. Originally referring to the location of a venue and its productions on a street intersecting Broadway in Manhattan's Theatre District, New York, the hub of the theater industry in the United States, the term later becam...
 in the productions of Much Ado About Nothing and Fasade

Career

In 1995, Vélez landed her first major television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 role. She was cast as Nina Moreno, a policewoman in the TV series New York Undercover
New York Undercover

New York Undercover is a one-hour Police procedural that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 in television to 1998 in television. The program was popular among its Hip hop culture target audience....
. That same year, she also made her film debut as Lisette Linares in the movie I Like It Like That
I Like It Like That

Note:This article is about the film. For the song by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, see "I Like It Like That .For the Chris Kenner song,see Chris Kenner or the Tito Nieves salsa music song, see Tito Nieves....
 alongside Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno is a singer, dancer and actress of Puerto Rican people descent. She is the first and only Hispanic female and one of nine performers who have won an List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards and at the time the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....
 and Jon Seda
Jon Seda

Jonathan Seda is an American actor of Puerto Rican people descent....
. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and The Desi Award for "Best Lead Actress". The movie was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards and won an NYFCCA award. Another TV series in which she performed was HBO's jail
Prison

A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or internment and usually deprived of a range of personal Freedom ....
 drama, Oz
Oz (TV series)

Oz was an United States television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by Home Box Office....
. She also acted in the feature film City Hall
City hall

A city hall or town hall is the chief administrative building of a city or town's Local government and usually houses the City council town council, its associated departments and their employees....
, with Al Pacino
Al Pacino

Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an United States film and theatre actor and Film director, widely considered to be one of the most notable and influential actors of his time....
.

In 1997, Vélez starred in Buscando un Sueño (In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
 speaking film sanctioned by SAG
Screen Actors Guild

The Screen Actors Guild is an American trade union representing over 120,000 film and television actor and extra worldwide. According to SAG's Mission Statement, the Guild seeks to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; col...
.

On June 24, 2006, she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2006 Long Island International Film Expo for her performance as Roseanne Crystal in the independent feature film, Serial.

Currently, Vélez plays a supporting role on Showtime
Showtime

Showtime is a Pay TV brand used by a number of channels and platforms around the world, but primarily refers to a group of channels in the United States....
's series Dexter
Dexter (TV series)

Dexter is an American television drama series that airs on American pay TV Showtime. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and adapted for television by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Manos, Jr., who wrote the pilot episode....
, again playing a police lieutenant.

Filmography

  • I Like It Like That
    I Like It Like That

    Note:This article is about the film. For the song by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, see "I Like It Like That .For the Chris Kenner song,see Chris Kenner or the Tito Nieves salsa music song, see Tito Nieves....
     (1994) - Lisette Linares
  • The Cosby Mysteries
    The Cosby Mysteries

    The Cosby Mysteries was a television Mystery fiction series starring Bill Cosby. It was Cosby's first television show since The Cosby Show and lasted only one season ....
     (1995) TV Series - Claudine Palmeri
  • New York Undercover
    New York Undercover

    New York Undercover is a one-hour Police procedural that aired on the FOX television network from 1994 in television to 1998 in television. The program was popular among its Hip hop culture target audience....
     (1995-1998) TV Series - Det. Nina Moreno
  • City Hall
    City hall

    A city hall or town hall is the chief administrative building of a city or town's Local government and usually houses the City council town council, its associated departments and their employees....
     (1996) - Elaine Santos
  • Buscando un Sueño (1997) (In Search of a Dream)
  • Oz
    Oz (TV series)

    Oz was an United States television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by Home Box Office....
     (1997-2003) TV Series - Dr. Gloria Nathan
    Gloria Nathan

    Dr. Gloria Nathan is a fictional character played by Lauren V?lez, on the HBO drama Oz ....
  • I Think I Do
    I Think I Do

    I Think I Do is an American film released in 1997 in film starring Alexis Arquette. The film follows the relationship between Bob and Brendan , roommates at George Washington University in Washington, DC, five years after Bob made his romantic feelings toward Brendan known....
     (1997) - Carol
  • Thicker Than Blood (1998) (TV) - Camilla López
  • The LaMastas (1998)
  • St. Michael's Crossing (1999) TV Series - Vicki Solera
  • Taino
    Taíno

    The Ta?nos were Indigenous peoples of the Americas of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is believed that the seafaring Ta?nos were relatives of the Arawakan people of South America....
     (1999) - Laura
  • Prince of Central Park (2000) - Rosa Sánchez
  • Prison Song
    Prison Song

    Prison Song is a 2001 United States prison film about a boy brought up in group homes with a gift and passion for art....
     (2001) - Prison Counselor
  • Love and Treason (2001) (TV) - Agent Susan Mestre
  • Strong Medicine
    Strong Medicine

    Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminism, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime Television network from 2000 to 2006....
     (2005) TV Series - Dr. Vanessa Burke
  • Barely Buzzed (2005) - Maria Vásquez
  • Medium
    Medium (TV series)

    Medium is an American supernatural and dramatic television series which premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005. The series is about Allison DuBois who acts as a research medium for the Phoenix, Arizona, district attorney's office....
     (2006) TV Series - Elena Cabrera
  • Numb3rs
    NUMB3RS

    NUMB3RS is an American television show produced by brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. It follows Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematics genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes for the FBI....
     (2006) TV Series - Claudia Gomez
  • Dexter
    Dexter (TV series)

    Dexter is an American television drama series that airs on American pay TV Showtime. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and adapted for television by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Manos, Jr., who wrote the pilot episode....
     (2006-2008) TV Series - Lt. Maria LaGuerta
    List of Dexter characters

    List of characters, with biographical details, from the Showtime series Dexter and the Jeff Lindsay novel series it was based on, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, and the upcoming fourth book Dexter by Design....
  • Serial (2007) - Roseanne Crystal


See also

  • List of famous Puerto Ricans


External links