- Born
- Birth nameVanessa Sally Ortiz
- Nickname
- V
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Vanessa Marcil was born Vanessa Sally Ortiz on October 15, 1968 in Indio, California to Patricia Irene Marcil-Ortiz (née Marcil), an herbalist and Pete Ortiz, a contractor. She grew up in Indio with her parents, big brother: Pete Samuel "Sam" Ortiz Jr. (November 16, 1958 - November 7, 2019) and big sisters: Tina (b. October 20, 1959) and Sherry (b. September 7, 1962). When Vanessa was 8, she started acting in plays and even performed her own song at a sixth-grade talent show, which she won. Soon afterward she began pursuing an acting career and starred in several theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital (1963) in 1992.
She made her feature film debut in The Rock (1996) opposite Nicolas Cage and starred in a made-for-television movie, To Love, Honor and Deceive (1996), in 1996. She stayed with General Hospital (1963) until 1998 and then left to join the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) as Gina Kincaid, a former ice skater replacing Tiffani Thiessen as the show's vixen. She met Brian Austin Green on the show and the two had a son named Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green on March 15, 2002.
In the fall of 2002 she made her long-awaited return to General Hospital (1963) reprising her role as Brenda Barrett, garnering her a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actress" in 2003. Vanessa later joined the cast of the NBC drama Las Vegas (2003) as Sam Marquez, a casino host where she remained on the show for five seasons until 2008. That same year she became the host of Lifetime's reality show Blush: The Search for America's Greatest Makeup Artist (2008) as well as making a three episode guest appearance on the NBC show Lipstick Jungle (2008).
In 2009, she starred in the Hallmark channel movie The Nanny Express (2008) as well as in the Lifetime movie One Hot Summer (2009). In 2010, she was in the web series The Bannen Way (2010) and in August 2010 after a seven year absence, she made her return to General Hospital (1963) remaining on the show for a year before her departure from the show in July 2011. Although she did make a guest appearance in April 2013 to commemorate the show's 50th anniversary.
Then in 2014, she starred in the Hallmark channel movie, Stranded in Paradise (2014) alongside James Denton. She is writing a book about her life which will be released in the near future. She resides in Los Angeles with her son, Kassius Marcil-Green.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Revitalizations@aol.com
- SpousesCarmine Giovinazzo(July 11, 2010 - March 18, 2013) (divorced)Corey Feldman(August 6, 1989 - January 1, 1993) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsPatricia Marcil OrtizPeter Ortiz
- RelativesSam Ortiz(Sibling)Tina Ortiz(Sibling)Sherry Ortiz(Sibling)
- Opened Patricia House in Los Angeles, which will aid women who can no longer care for their children. Created a hotline for these women to have their babies placed in good homes.
- She has suffered from agoraphobia.
- The role of Gina Kincaid on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) was written specifically for her in mind and created by Aaron Spelling.
- In April 2015, Marcil revealed that she had become engaged to a deputy sheriff, whom she refers to as "MC" on social media. On January 10, 2018 it was reported that she was expecting her second child and first daughter with her fiancé. Then on January 26 of that same year, it was reported that she had suffered her seventh miscarriage.
- Loves to ride motorcycles.
- "Because of my crazy work schedule, I have become something of a master at changing my clothes while driving. The men driving next to me love it." - on driving to work while changing clothes.
- "Acting probably saved my life. It gave me a home and a safe place to let out all of my emotions and have it be OK." - in having it be an outlet.
- I don't know any woman who doesn't have an anxiety attack about wearing a bathing suit. I was on the show (General Hospital (1963)) for two years before they got me to wear a bathing suit and I almost had a heart attack the whole time.
- I'm not ready to be a woman yet. I'd like it if my body were more boyish. Maybe I'll like my curves when I'm older but right now they kind of make me squirm.
- I balance things better and don't kill myself so much, but conflict makes me a more interesting actress to watch. The places I go to pull emotions from, I think if you have a perfect, happy life, you just don't have those places. And I want those places. I'm proud of those places.
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