Vanessa Marcil

Vanessa Marcil ( mar-SEL; born Sally Vanessa Ortiz; October 15, 1968 is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Brenda Barrett on General Hospital, Gina Kincaid on Beverly Hills, 90210, and Sam Marquez on Las Vegas. 2Early life Marcil, the youngest of four children, was born in Indio, California, to Patricia Marcil, an herbalist, and Peter Ortiz, a contractor and self-made millionaire. Marcil's father is Mexican, and her mother is an American of French, and Italian ancestry. 2Career Marcil acted in a number of theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the soap opera General Hospital, in 1992. She garnered three Daytime Emmy Award nominations (in 1997, 1998, and 2003) for her portrayal, and won in 2003 as Outstanding Supporting Actress. In February 1998, she was named Outstanding Lead Actress at the Soap Opera Digest Awards. On June 14, 1993 she appeared in the Prince music video "Poorgoo", which was released officially in very limited numbers. In 1994, she was cast in the Prince music video, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and made People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful list the next year. She made her feature film debut in the film The Rock (1996), in which she appeared opposite Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harri