Patricia Velasquez extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

Patricia Velásquez
Born	Patricia Carola Velásquez Semprún January 31, 1971 (1971-01-31) (age 37) Zulia, Venezuela
Occupation	Actress and fashion model
Official website

Patricia Carola Velásquez Semprún (born January 31, 1971) is a Venezuelan actress and fashion model.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.2.1 Film 1.2.2 Television 1.3 Personal life 2 References 3 External links

Biography

Early life

Velásquez, the fifth of six children, was born in Zulia, Venezuela to a Venezuelan father of Native and Spanish descent and a mother who came from the Wayuu tribe.^[1][2] Her parents were both teachers;^[3] her father also worked for UNESCO and as a result, she spent some of her childhood in Mexico and France. She attended San Vicente de Paul High School, graduating in 1987.^[4] After a year of college studies, Velásquez left for Milan, Italy, in pursuit of a modeling career.

Career

In 1997 she studied acting in Los Angeles and New York.^[5] In 1998, she paced down runways in ready-to-wear fashion shows for designers such as Antonio Berardi, Bella Freud, Corinne Cobson, Claude Montana, and Dolce & Gabbana. As for print advertising, Velásquez appeared in ads for Chanel's Allure, Roberto Verino's Verino fragrance, as well as Victoria's Secret. Early in her modeling career, she appeared in several issues of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. This led to a large number of further modeling engagements, which ultimately culminated in her being ranked #45 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2001^[6] and #16 in Stuff Magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" poll in 2002. Now a L'Oréal model, she competed in the 1989 Miss Venezuela pageant representing Peninsula Goajira, placing seventh.

Velásquez appeared in the role of Anck-Su-Namun in the 1999 film The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns. Her character makes her first entrance in the film in remarkably intricate body paint. Velásquez's movie credits normally omit the acute accent over the a in her surname.

She had a special appearance on Breaking the Girl video of the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Film

The body of film work Velásquez has been involved in is substantial, especially compared to many other models who try out at acting. A selected filmography is as follows:

• Le Jaguar (1996), as Maya
• Eruption (1997), as Luisa Soares
• Beowulf (1999), as Pendra
• No Vacancy (1999), as Ramona
• The Mummy (1999), as Anck-Su-Namun
• Committed (2000), as Carmen
• Façade (2000), as Juanita
• San Bernardo (2000), as Claudia
• Turn It Up (2000), (cameo appearance)
• The Mummy Returns (2001), as Meela Nais/Anck Su Namun
• SSX Tricky (2001, video game), as Marisol Diez Delgado
• Fidel (2002, miniseries), as Mirta
• Mindhunters (2004), as Nicole Willis
• Zapata: The Dream of a Hero - El sueño del héroe (2004), as Josefa
• The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve (2004, made-for-TV), as Isabel Frias

Television

Velásquez played the character of Begoña on several episodes of the The L Word during its 5th season (2008). She also had a recurring role on the television series Arrested Development, playing Marta Estrella and on From The Grave (CSI: Miami episode) as a guest star, playing Celia Gonzalez.

Personal life

Velásquez has stated she is bisexual^[7] and dated comedian Sandra Bernhard in the mid-1990s.^[8] In 2002, Velásquez founded the Wayúu Tayá Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the Wayúu, a Venezuelan indigenous group.^[9] She is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.^[5] She is 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m) tall.

References

External links

• Patricia Velásquez at the Internet Movie Database
• Patricia Velásquez at AskMen.com

Persondata
NAME	Velásquez, Patricia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Velásquez Semprún, Patricia Carola
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Venezuelan actress and model
DATE OF BIRTH	1971-01-31
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zulia, Venezuela
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH