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Rosie Pérez | |
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Pérez at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival |
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Born | Rosa María Pérez September 6, 1964 Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, United States |
Occupation | Actress, dancer, choreographer, director, activist |
Years active | 1989–present |
Spouse | Seth Zvi Rosenfeld (divorced) |
Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez (born September 6, 1964, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director and community activist.
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Pérez was born in the Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Bushwick to Afro-Puerto Rican parents. Her mother, Lydia Pérez (née Fontañez), a singer, was married to Ventura Pérez at the time of Rosie's birth. However, Rosie's biological father is Ismael Serrano, a merchant seaman with whom her mother had an affair. Much of her young life was spent in foster care.[1][2][3] She attended Grover Cleveland High School, which is located in Ridgewood, in the New York City borough of Queens, and Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California.[4]
Pérez was first noticed in a dance club by Spike Lee in 1988, who hired her for her first major acting role in Do the Right Thing.[5] Pérez started her career in the late 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train and later choreographed music videos by Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Diana Ross, LL Cool J and The Boys.[citation needed] She was the choreographer for the dancing group the Fly Girls who were featured on the Fox television comedy program In Living Color.
She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.[citation needed] Perez had her third major role in the hit comedy White Men Can't Jump co-starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
Pérez was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless. In 1997, she starred in Perdita Durango, a controversial film in which many scenes of excessive violence, sex and nudity were edited out of the version released in the United States but remained intact in the version released throughout Latin America.[citation needed]
She provides the voices of Click, the camera, on Nick Jr.'s Go, Diego, Go! and Chel, a beautiful native woman in the DreamWorks Animation film The Road to El Dorado. She played corrupt police officer Carol Brazier in the Judd Apatow-produced film Pineapple Express, co-starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Perez appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer Neal Baer said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother.[6] She suffered a serious injury during the filming of the episode.[7] Most recently, Perez is the subject of a released album by Felt entitled Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez.
Rosie Perez was injured in 2009 while filming an episode of Law & Order SVU. Her neck was injured when she was forcibly shaken as part of a scene. She has a slipped disc and a bulging disc in her neck and has undergone surgery for the condition. A year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama.[8] In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show, claiming that the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.[9]
Pérez is an activist for Puerto Rican rights. Her film Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) documents her activism.[citation needed] She starred in and directed the Spanish AIDS PSA campaign "Join the Fight" for Cable Positive and Kismet Films.[citation needed] The campaign featured actor Wilmer Valderrama, BET's Julissa Bermudez, Telenovela actor Erick Elías, singer/actress Lorena Rojas, 2006–2007 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera and actress Judy Marte.[citation needed] An English-language campaign was also directed by Liev Schreiber.[citation needed] President Barack Obama appointed her to The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She was sworn in on February 2, 2010.[citation needed]
On January 6, 2000, she was arrested for disorderly conduct in Manhattan following a rally to protest U.S. Navy air weapons training, as well as other forms of payload on the government training range owned at Vieques, itself a small island off the coast of then-Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.[citation needed]
Perez serves as the chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership,[10] a New York City arts education nonprofit that uses arts integrated education programs to close the achievement gap.
Film | |||
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Year | Film | Role | Notes |
1989 | Do the Right Thing | Tina | |
1991 | Night on Earth | Angela | |
1992 | White Men Can't Jump | Gloria Clemente | Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress |
1993 | Untamed Heart | Cyndi | Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Fearless. |
Fearless | Carla Rodrigo | Berlin International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance (Special Mention) Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress tied with Anna Paquin Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress also for Untamed Heart. |
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1994 | It Could Happen to You | Muriel Lang | |
Somebody to Love | Mercedes | ||
1997 | A Brother's Kiss | Debbie | |
Perdita Durango | Perdita Durango | Fantafestival Award for Best Actress | |
1999 | The 24 Hour Woman | Grace Santos | Also Producer Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress |
2000 | The Road to El Dorado | Chel | Voice |
2001 | Human Nature | Louise | |
Riding in Cars with Boys | Shirley Perro | ||
2003 | From the 104th Floor | Narrator | Voice |
2004 | Exactly | Angela | Short |
2005 | All the Invisible Children | Ruthie | Segment "Jesus Children of America" |
Yo Soy Boricua! Pa' Que Tu Lo Sepas! | Herself | Director Documentary |
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2006 | Home | ||
Just Like the Son | Mrs. Ponders | ||
2008 | The Take | Marina De La Pena | Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female |
Pineapple Express | Officer Carol Brazier | ||
TV Films | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1990 | Criminal Justice | Barbara Von Busch | |
1995 | In a New Light: Sex Unplugged | Herself | Host |
1997 | Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground | Mystery Girl | Also producer Segment "Love on the A Train" |
2004 | Copshop | Heaven | |
Lackawanna Blues | Bertha | Television Movie Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress - Television Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special |
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2006 | Lolo's Cafe | Maria | Voice |
2009 | Exit 19 | Lorna | |
2010 | Lies in Plain Sight | Marisol Reyes | Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Special Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated — Imagen Foundation Award for Best Actress - Television |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1990 | 21 Jump Street | Rosie Martinez | Episode "2245" |
1990 | In Living Color | Herself | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography (1990, 1992, 1993) choreographer, seasons 1-4 |
1990–1991 | WIOU | Lucy Hernandez | Episodes "Without Prejudice" "Labored Relations" "Mother Nature's Son" "They Shoot Sources, Don't They" |
1995–1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Thumbelina / Witch | Episodes " Thumbelina" " Hanselito y Gretelita" |
2002 | Widows | Linda Perelli | Episodes " Hour One" "Hour Two" "Hour Three" "Hour Four" |
1995–2004 | Frasier | Francesca / Lizbeth | Episodes " Roz in the Doghouse (1995)" " Crock Tales (2004)" |
2005–2008 | Go, Diego, Go! | Click, the camera | Episodes "Diego Saves the Humpback Whale" "Linda the Llama Saves Carnaval" "Diego's Wolf-Pup Rescue" "The Bobos' Mother's Day" "Tuga Helps the Moon" "Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween!" |
2008–2009 | Lipstick Jungle | Dahlia Morales | Nominated — ALMA Award for Best Actress in Television - Comedy Episodes "Pandora's Box" "Let It Be" "The F-Word " "The Lyin', the Bitch and the Wardrobe Dahlia Morales" "Thanksgiving " " La Vie En Pose" |
2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Eva Banks | Episodes "Hardwired" |
2011–2012 | The Cleveland Show | Choni / Aunt Chonie | Episodes "There Goes El Neighborhood" "Y Tu Junior Tambien" " Episode #3.11" |
2012 | Nurse Jackie | Jules | Episodes "Slow Growing Monsters" |
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Makin' It Easy
Raspberries
by David Smalley
Just got into town on a midnight plane
After this is over I'll be leavin' again
Somebody wants to put the pin on me
She's sayin' that it's mine but I know that can't be
Makin' it easy for me to be movin' on
Makin' it easy for me to be a long time gone
Met her at a job, was a Friday night
She was sittin' in the front row lookin' outasight!
Sang my song to her all about romance
Ooh, we got together and she took a chance
Makin' it easy for me to be movin' on
Makin' it easy for me to be a long time gone
Ya know I left that town, they're all the same
I was doin' all right til the letter came
She said, "I'm sorry, baby, but just the same,
I got to find somebody to take the blame, oh yeah."
I said, "What's this, babe? You know I got no time
To be worryin' 'bout a problem that I know ain't mine.
You've had too many lovers to know it's me
You better find somebody else, I wanna be free."
Makin' it easy for me to be movin' on
Makin' it easy for me to be a long time gone
Makin' it easy for me to be movin' on
Makin' it easy for me to be a long time gone
Makin' it easy, I got to be movin' on
Makin' it easy, makin' it easy