Sofía Margarita Vergara (born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian actress, television host, model, and entrepreneur.
Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable acting job in English, the 2003 film Chasing Papi. Subsequently, she appeared in films, including two Tyler Perry films, Meet the Browns (2008) and Madea Goes to Jail (2009), receiving an ALMA Award nomination for the latter.
Vergara currently stars on the critically acclaimed ABC series Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Vergara was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her mother, Margarita Vergara Dávila de Vergara, is a homemaker, and her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, produced cattle for the meat industry. "Toti" was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara. She grew up in her hometown of Barranquilla and was raised as a devout Catholic in a well-off family, attending a private bilingual Spanish/English school.
Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach. Soon she was presented with attractive offers in modeling and television work, and she considered accepting them despite being raised both conservatively and religiously. According to an article in the January 2002 issue of Maxim, Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment." Vergara made her first appearance as a performer at the age of 17 in a Pepsi commercial that was widely broadcast in Latin America.
Vergara moved to Bogotá, Colombia, at the age of 20, where she worked as a runway model and on television. From 1995 to 1998, she was co-host with Fernando Fiore on Fuera de serie ("Out of the Ordinary" or "Over-the-Top"), a travel series that sent her to exotic places around the world. It was telecast on the international Univisión Spanish-language television network, and it made her a star in the Latin American market. It also gave Vergara television exposure in the United States via the Univisión stations there. She co-hosted the Univisión show A que no te atreves ("I Dare You"). She appeared as a guest star in the season-four opening of the HBO series Entourage.
Besides runway and catalog modeling work, Vergara did independent projects. She was photographed for posters and swimsuit calendars in 1998, 2000, and 2002.
Vergara is 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, and she has naturally blonde hair (for movies and television, she is sometimes asked to color it brunette to make her look more stereotypically Latina). Vergara was under an exclusive television contract with Univision for several years, and after it expired she accepted a role with the ABC network in the United States. Vergara appeared on the ABC situation comedies Hot Properties and The Knights of Prosperity. She currently stars on the ABC sitcom Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, for which she was nominated for the 2010 and 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series along with a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations.
Vergara plays Alicia Oviedo in the television show Amas de Casa Desesperadas, the Colombian version of Desperate Housewives. Her character is essentially the Colombian counterpart to the Mary Alice Young character in the American show. She also appeared on the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money as Jeremy Darling's love interest. Vergara has made guest appearances in the Mexican telenovela Fuego En La Sangre.
In 2009, Vergara had a five-week stint on Broadway as "Mama" Morton in the revival of Chicago.
In 2011, Vergera was supposed to star in The Paperboy, an independent drama directed by Lee Daniels. Due to delays, shooting was pushed back a week (which conflicted with Vergara shooting Season 3 of Modern Family), so she was forced to drop out.
In July 2011, she finished filming for the Farrelly Brothers’ The Three Stooges, her first lead role in a film. Vergara said, "I play a mean woman that tries to manipulate the Three Stooges into killing her husband so that she gets all the money."
In 2011 Vergara was named the new face of CoverGirl. It will be her first ever campaign for the cosmetics company. The advertisements will debut in January 2012.
In April 2011, Vergara debuted in a Diet Pepsi commercial with David Beckham. Diet Pepsi's marketing director has said that Pepsi has formalized its relationship with Vergara, but it is not known when or where follow-up commercials will air.
In September 2011, it was announced that Vergara is designing a clothing line for K-Mart targeted for "soccer moms."
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