Eva Longoria Biography

American actress and producer (born 1975)Not to be confused with Evan Longoria.

Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón (née Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director and business woman. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, on which she starred from 2001 to 2003. She is most known for her role as Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, which ran from 2004 to 2012, and for which she received a Golden Globe nomination and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards with the cast.

Thanks to her acting works she has won three ALMA Awards, two People's Choice Awards a Teen Choice Awards; Longoria has also appeared in The Sentinel (2006), Over Her Dead Body (2008), For Greater Glory (2012), Frontera (2014), Lowriders (2016), and Overboard (2018), later winning the Imagen Awards for Best Actress Film.

In 2005, Longoria founded UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, film and television production company acquired by Hyphenate Media Group, co-founded by Longoria herself and Cris Abrego, in 2023. She was also an executive producer for the Lifetime television series Devious Maids, and for films Food Chains and The Harvest. From 2015 to 2016, she starred and co-produced the short-lived NBC sitcom Telenovela.

Since 2014 she has been directing episodes of television series she appeared in. In 2021 she was nominated at the 48th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for her direction of television series Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love. In 2023 Longoria made her feature directorial debut with Flamin' Hot, which was nominated for Best Song at the 96th Academy Awards.

She appeared in several advertising campaigns, including with L'Oréal, New York & Co, Pepsi and she has launched her own fashion and parfumes brand since 2017.

Early life and education

Longoria at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival

Longoria was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 15, 1975, the youngest of the four daughters of her Tejano parents Ella Eva (Mireles) and Enrique Longoria Jr. One of her sisters had special needs. Longoria told Redbook in 2016:

There was never any resentment, because I saw how hard my mother worked and all she did for my sister , and I wanted to do whatever I could to help. We all did.

She was raised Roman Catholic. She did not speak Spanish growing up, and did not learn the language until 2009. While in high school, she worked at a Wendy's restaurant part-time for three years to help earn money for her quinceañera. Longoria previously told the press how her years in fast food as a teen shaped her work ethic, saying "I couldn't wait to get to work and make my own money." Longoria earned her Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. At that time (1998), she also won the *le of Miss Corpus Christi USA. After completing college, she entered a talent contest that led her to Los Angeles; and shortly thereafter, was spotted and signed by a theatrical agent. While auditioning for roles, she worked as a headhunter for four years. Longoria has publicly credited Jennifer Lopez as being an inspiration to her early in her career. “Jennifer broke down so many doors so that we could walk through them,” she told the magazine PEOPLE. “And she kicked them down. They were not easy doors.” She also described Tejana legend Selena as being "my idol, my inspiration" and "the reason I even dared to dream that a better life was possible."After three years at California State University, Northridge, she received her master's degree in Chicano studies in May 2013. Her thesis was "Success STEMS From Diversity: The Value of Latinas in STEM Careers".

Career

Longoria guest-starred in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Another guest appearance on General Hospital the same year led to a contract role on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, where she portrayed Isabella Braña from 2001 to 2003.After leaving that show, she appeared in the 2003 revival of Jack Webb's long-running Dragnet media franchise. She then starred in Señorita Justice, a poorly received direct-to-video film; and a television film, The Dead Will Tell.

Longoria in 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Pan's Labyrinth

In 2003, Longoria was cast as Gabrielle Solis in the ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives. She later commented, "I think it's funny when people say I'm an overnight sensation, because I've been working at it for 10 years."Shortly after her debut on Desperate Housewives, she starred in a direct-to-video film, Carlita's Secret, for which she was also co-producer.

In 2006, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, along with her co-stars in Desperate Housewives. That year, she received the ALMA Award, and was named entertainer of the year. She also starred opposite Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland in the thriller The Sentinel (2006)—her first major role in a theatrical feature film—and played Sylvia in Harsh Times, starring Freddy Rodríguez and Christian Bale.

Longoria at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival

In the 2000s, Longoria appeared in several high-profile advertising campaigns and numerous men's magazines, reaching No. 14 in the FHM "Sexiest Women 2008" poll. She was also featured on the cover of various international women's magazines, including Vogue, Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar. People en Español listed her among its "Most Beautiful People" for 2003. She continues to be included in lists of Hollywood's Most Beautiful. She was listed as No. 1 in Maxim's Hottest Female Stars of 2005 and 2006, the first woman to top the list in two consecutive years. She was ranked No. 9 in the magazine's Hot 100 of 2007 list. In honor of Maxim's 100th issue in 2006, she was featured on a 75-by-110-foot (23 by 34:m) vinyl mesh replica of its January 2005 cover located in a Clark County, Nevada desert. More recently, she was ranked No. 14 of People's Most Beautiful 2011. People named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age.

In January 2007, Longoria was chosen to be the first face of Bebe Sport. She appeared in the Spring/Summer 2007 campaign, photographed by Greg Kadel. She also holds contracts with L'Oréal, and New York & Co. She also contracts with Magnum Ice-Cream and Heineken. She was a part of Microsoft's "I'm A PC" ad campaign. She and Tony Parker have appeared together in campaigns for London Fog. She became a spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris in 2005 and was still being featured in L'Oréal TV commercials and print ads as of 2016. In the summer of 2010, she was a judge on The Next Food Network Star; and in October, she hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards 2010 in Madrid, Spain.

Based on her earnings from June 1, 2009, to June 1, 2010, Longoria was ranked No. 4 on Forbes Prime Time's 10 Top-Earning Women with an estimated $12 million. She topped the Forbes magazine's list of the highest-paid TV actresses for 2011.

A pregnant Longoria getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018

In 2013, Longoria professed that she was a "cat lady", and appeared as a spokesperson for Sheba Cat Food.

From 2013, she served as one of the executive producers of Devious Maids and directed the season two premiere, "An Ideal Husband". In 2016, she also starred in the fourth season, in the episode "Once More Unto the Bleach". She is also an executive producer of the do*entaries The Harvest and Food Chains, for which she won a James Beard Foundation Award.

In 2015, NBC announced plans for a sitcom called Telenovela in which Longoria starred as a popular telenovela actress. It was filmed with a single camera. It ran for only one season.

In 2017, Longoria directed the season three finale episode of the ABC comedy Black-ish.

In 2018, Longoria attended the premiere for her new film, Dog Days with co-stars Vanessa Hudgens (Tara) and Nina Dobrev (Elizabeth) on August 5, 2018.

In August 2019, Longoria was announced as the director of the biopic Flamin' Hot, her feature-length directorial debut. The movie was released in 2023, amid a controversy into the authenticity of the subject matter.

In 2021, Longoria was working with Kenya Barris to develop a possible new television series Brown-ish about a Latino family.

She will produce a Spanish-language adaptation of the television series Call My Agent! for Latin America and the U.S. and direct the first two episodes.

Other ventures

Longoria at a book signing for her book Eva's Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends in April 2011

In March 2008, Longoria opened the restaurant Beso (which means "kiss" in Spanish) in Hollywood, along with partner and celebrity chef Todd English. The restaurant is located on Hollywood Boulevard and is accompanied by Kiss, a Victorian-themed nightclub on the floor above. The Hollywood Beso was scheduled to be the focus of a pilot episode for a tentative reality series called Beso: Waiting on Fame, to air on VH1 in late 2010.In 2009, Longoria and various investor-partners opened a Beso restaurant, with a nightclub called Eve above it, in the Crystals retail and entertainment district of CityCenter in Las Vegas.

In 2011, the corporation Beso LLC, owner of the Vegas restaurant-and-nightclub venture, with listed *ets of about $2.5 million and Longoria as a 32 percent shareholder, filed for Chapter 11 protection, entering bankruptcy proceedings, in order to restructure nearly $5.7 million in debt and other liabilities. On July 28, 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Nevada ordered Longoria to appear in Las Vegas on August 20 in order to be examined about the bankrupt restaurant's finances.

Her first book, Eva's Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends, was published in April 2011. In terms of food-related promotions, in 2012 and 2013, Longoria paired with Iron Chef Michael Symon for a promotion for PepsiCo's Lay's potato chips contest called "Do Us A Flavor". The promotion encourages consumers to submit new flavor ideas and fans to vote for their favorite on Facebook. The person who creates the winning flavor is awarded $1 million or one percent of chip flavor's net sales.

In 2015, Longoria announced that she had teamed up with sportswear manufacturer Sunrise Brands to create a women's apparel collection, set to launch Fall 2016.

In August 2016, Longoria's production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, signed a two-year first-look deal with Universal Pictures. In September 2020, her company renewed a three-year first-look deal with 20th Television.

In March 2017, Longoria launched her clothing line website on her official site. In December 2023, she was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

In 2020, Longoria joined the ownership group of Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

Combining her education advocacy with business in collaboration with Mott’s Fruit Flavored Snacks, Longoria began promoting Mott's Snacks and Stories program which gives away bilingual children's books. "When you look at the statistics, 45% of children in the U.S. are living in book deserts with limited access to books," she stated on the subject.

Philanthropy

Longoria with Victoria Beckham in 2010

In 2006, Longoria founded Eva's Heroes, a charity which helps young adults with developmental disabilities. Based in San Antonio, Texas, it was inspired by her sister, who has intellectual disabilities.

Longoria is the national spokesperson for PADRES Contra El Cancer. She signed shoes for the Spirit of Women Red Shoe Celebrity Auction. She also supports the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation, OmniPeace, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Stroke *ociation, Project HOME and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She is an executive producer of Shine Global Inc.'s do*entary The Harvest, which focuses on the 500,000 child migrant farm workers in the U.S. and promotes awareness and support to enact the Children's Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act).

Her other charity, the Eva Longoria Foundation, aims to close the education gap plaguing Latinas and to confront Latino poverty. She started: "The Eva Longoria Foundation supports programs which help Latinas excel in school and attend college. Additionally, we work to provide Latina entrepreneurs with career training, mentorship, capital and opportunity." The foundation offers nine-week "parent engagement" courses to help Latino parents; has a mentorship program and other activities for Latinas; and provides loans to Latina-owned businesses. It is co-funded by philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of investor Warren Buffett.

Longoria was named Philanthropist of the Year in 2009 by The Hollywood Reporter for her commitment to Latino causes and giving back to the community. She appeared on Fort Boyard in 2009, helping attract more than €20,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Longoria at Imagine Cup in 2011

In 2009, Longoria enrolled in a Master's program in Chicano studies and political science at Cal State University, Northridge. She said, "Because of my involvement with the NCLR and my charity work, I really wanted a better, more authentic understanding of what my community has gone through so I help create change." She graduated with a master's degree in Chicano studies in May 2013.

In September 2009, Longoria was appointed to a bipartisan commission to establish a National Museum of the American Latino. In October 2012, she spoke at the McAfee Focus 2012 event, where the "theme of safety—beyond computers—emerged. Safety involving financial security, emotional security, and the other results from Longoria's philanthropic efforts."

In March 2017, UK-based company Richtopia included Longoria at #42 on its list of 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide.

In July 2019, Longoria supported the Special Olympics Texas Summer Games hosted by Toyota Field and Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio, Texas. In 2020 she *isted the San Antonio Food Bank with their COVID-relief efforts.

In March 2024, Longoria was granted $50-million Courage and Civility Award by Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez in recognition of her charity work through the Eva Longoria Foundation supports programs for Latinas.

Politics and activism

Longoria with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden in 2023

Longoria has a keen interest in immigration. She accompanied a border patrol in Arizona and has immersed herself in the issues to understand the Mexican and the U.S. points of view. She has described Arizona's SB 1070 immigration law as uncons*utional.

In 2012, Longoria was one of seven Californians named to the post of co-chair of Barack Obama's reelection campaign. On September 6, she spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention where she endorsed President Obama's reelection. In May 2014, she initiated the Latino Victory Project to raise funds for candidates and efforts to get out the vote. An executive producer of the do*entaries The Harvest and Food Chains, she is a supporter of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

In 2014, Longoria endorsed Marianne Williamson for California's 33rd congressional district. In 2018, Longoria endorsed Beto O'Rourke for Senate against Senator Ted Cruz, as well as Collin Allred for Texas's 32nd congressional district against then-in*bent Rep. Pete Sessions.

Longoria spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 26, 2016. In August 2020, she hosted the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was held remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In preparation of Georgia's runoff elections, on January 2, 2021, Longoria participated in a VoteRiders textbanking event with America Ferrera to help educate Latina voters regarding the state's voter ID laws. Longoria was touted by Texas Monthly as a potential top Democratic contender in the 2024 United States Senate election in Texas, citing her past refusal to rule out a run for office in the future.

Personal life

Marriages and children

Longoria at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival

Longoria was married to actor Tyler Christopher, star of General Hospital, from 2002 to 2004.

Longoria met Tony Parker, then the point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, in November 2004. On November 30, 2006, they became engaged, and married in a civil service on July 6, 2007 at a Paris city hall. They had a Catholic wedding ceremony at the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois Church in Paris on July 7, 2007. On November 17, 2010, Longoria filed for divorce from Parker in Los Angeles, citing "irreconcilable differences". In the divorce pe*ion, she requested that her family name be restored, and sought spousal support from Parker. The couple had a prenuptial agreement signed in June 2007, a month before their wedding, and amended two years later in June 2009.

Longoria told her friend Mario Lopez that she had discovered hundreds of text messages from another woman on her husband's phone. Extra identified the other woman as Erin Barry, then-wife of Brent Barry, Parker's former teammate, and revealed that the Barrys were also divorcing. In light of her divorce, Longoria canceled her scheduled appearance at the 2010 American Music Awards. On November 19, 2010, Parker filed for divorce from Longoria in Bexar County, Texas, on the grounds of "discord or conflict of personalities", establishing a legal battle over where the case would be heard. Unlike Longoria's divorce pe*ion, Parker's did not mention a prenuptial agreement and claimed that the parties would "enter into an agreement for the division of their estate". The divorce was finalized in Texas on January 28, 2011, the same day Longoria's lawyer filed papers to dismiss her Los Angeles pe*ion. Longoria later said, "I didn't realize it at the time with Tony, but I had become my own version of a desperate housewife."

On December 13, 2015, Longoria reported her engagement to Mexican businessman José Antonio "Pepe" Bastón Patiño, then the president of Televisa, the largest media company in Latin America. They met on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend in Mexico City; at the time, Bastón did not know who Longoria was, and initially declined the invitation to meet her because of his busy schedule. They were married in Mexico on May 21, 2016.

On December 19, 2017, it was reported that Longoria was pregnant with her first child. She gave birth to a son in 2018.

Ancestry

According to research done in 2010 by Harvard professor and Faces of America host Henry Louis Gates Jr., Longoria's oldest identifiable Spanish immigrant ancestor is her ninth great-grandfather, Lorenzo Suárez de Longoria (b. Oviedo, 1592), who was a colonist of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (modern-day Mexico) in 1603. His family was based in a small village called Llongoria, Belmonte de Miranda, Asturias, Spain. Longoria is the Castillanized form of this Asturian-language surname.

In 1767, her seventh great-grandfather received almost 4,000 acres (16:km2) of land along the Rio Grande in a land grant from King Charles III of Spain. The family retained this land for more than a century. After the US-Mexican border was moved southwards in the aftermath of the Mexican–American War, the land ended up on the American side of the border. Her family had to deal with the influx of United States settlers following the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.

According to DNA testing, Longoria's overall genetic ancestry is 70% European, 27% Indigenous American, and 3% African. After a computer compared the DNA results of Gates's dozen guests, tests showed that she is anciently related by human haplogroup to cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who is of Chinese heritage. As women have two X chromosomes and no Y chromosome, Longoria did not inherit her father's Y-DNA, but she did inherit her mother's mitochondrial DNA (genetic information p*ed from mother to child). Longoria's mtDNA belongs to the Haplogroup A2, making her a direct descendant of a Native American woman, a Maya from the territory of Mexico long before it was Mexico. Her ancestors include many other Maya on both sides of her family.

Longoria identifies as a "Texican"—a Mexican-American Texan.

Filmography

Longoria in 2009 at the Guadalajara International Film Festival

Film

Television

Music videos

Producer

Director

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Eva Longoria.Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eva Longoria.

• Eva Longoria at IMDb:
• Eva Longoria at Rotten Tomatoes
• Eva Longoria Foundation
• Eva's Heroes
• Eva's Clothing Line Archived March 7, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
• Full Q&A Oxford Union
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Television

• Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico (2023–present)

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• UnbeliEVAble Entertainment
• Gabrielle Solis
• Angel City FC