Ana Alicia Ortiz Torres (born December 12, 1956)[1] is a Mexican-American retired actress who performed in theatre and on television. After getting her television start by spending a year on the daytime soap-opera Ryan's Hope, she gained international recognition for her role as scheming vineyard heiress Melissa Agretti on the long-running primetime soap opera Falcon Crest which she portrayed for seven seasons from 1982 until 1988. She has also performed in few single episode guest-starring roles on various televisions shows or in television movies most years from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

Ana Alicia
Alicia in the 1980s
Born
Ana Alicia Ortiz Torres

(1956-12-12) December 12, 1956 (age 67)
NationalityMexican-American
Alma materWellesley College
University of Texas at El Paso
Southwestern Law School[2]
Occupation(s)Actress, singer, producer
Years active1977–present
Known forHalloween II
Ryan's Hope
Falcon Crest
Battlestar Galactica
Spouse
Gary R. Benz
(m. 1994; div. 2016)
Children2

Early life

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Ana Alicia Ortiz Torres was born in Mexico City to Carlos Celestino Ortiz and Alicia Torres, who ran businesses in Acapulco, Mexico. She was the third of four children. Her family moved to El Paso, Texas, when she was six years old after the death of her father. There, she lived with her grandmother, mother, an uncle, and her three siblings in a house that her father had purchased for her grandmother. Upon graduating from high school in 1972, Ortiz earned a scholarship to Wellesley College. Upon arrival at Wellesley College, Ortiz auditioned and won the lead role for Jules Feiffer's Crawling Arnold.

On summer break after her freshman year, Ortiz auditioned for The Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theatre outside El Paso, Texas. The theatre offered her a position as a recurring actress in all feature productions. The opportunity would allow her to work with name actors from Hollywood and New York and receive a large weekly salary. She accepted the offer and also acquired her actor's equity card through her term. She left Wellesley College, instead pursuing her bachelor's degree in drama at the University of Texas at El Paso to be closer to her mother and three brothers.[2]

Her first professional role under an AEA contract was as one of the Pigeon Sisters in a production of The Odd Couple starring Bob Denver at The Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater in El Paso.[3]

Ana Alicia spent the next three years performing in main stage productions at UTEP as well as having significant roles in the Adobe Horseshoe repertoire.[citation needed]

Career

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After earning her degree in 1977, Ortiz moved to Los Angeles and started auditioning for roles in various productions. She won the part of Alicia Nieves on Ryan's Hope, a daytime soap opera, moving to New York City for taping. After fifteen months on the show, Ortiz moved back to Los Angeles part-time and kept auditioning while attending law school at Southwestern Law School at night back in Texas. Eventually, her acting opportunities suffered and she decided to pursue acting full-time.[3]

Now going by "Ana Alicia" professionally, she landed several guest roles in episodic television, including Starbuck's love interest, Aurora, in the 1979 Battlestar Galactica episode "Take the Celestra" and Gloria Alonzo in the episode "Space Croppers" of the series sequel Galactica 1980. Between these she appeared as Falina Redding in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Vegas in Space." In 1979 Ana Alicia appeared in the made-for-TV movie The Sacketts as Drusilla, the love of Tyrell Sackett. The movie was based on the Louis L'Amour books The Sacketts and The Daybreakers. She played a major role in the 1981 TV movie Coward of the County, which also starred Kenny Rogers, and was based on his hit song of the same name. In 1982, she was cast in the role of spoiled, selfish vineyard heiress Melissa Agretti on Falcon Crest as a replacement for actress Delores Cantú who had played Melissa for one episode in early 1982. Ana Alicia appeared in the 1983 TV-movie, Happy Endings, opposite John Schneider and her former Ryan's Hope co-star, Catherine Hicks.

In 1989, Ortiz appeared with Raúl Juliá in the movie Romero, her only non-television film role, apart from Halloween II in 1981. Then in 1990, Ana Alicia appeared in the 1990 made-for-TV movie Miracle Landing as flight attendant Michelle Honda. The film is based on an in-flight accident aboard Aloha Airlines Flight 243 that occurred in April 1988. Ana Alicia continued to play guest roles on episodic television, including two episodes in the action series Renegade which reunited her with her former Falcon Crest screen husband Lorenzo Lamas.

Alicia sang two songs on the soap, Falcon Crest. The first song was "Goody Goody", a famous 1936 song composed by Matty Malneck with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was first sung by Bing Crosby. The second song was "Body and Soul". It was written by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton and Johnny Green in 1930. The song was presented by Libby Holman in the revue Three's a Crowd and used as the theme of the 1947 film, Body and Soul, becoming a jazz favorite.[4]

In October 2010, Ana Alicia appeared in a promotional video for the Norwegian television show Gylne Tider. She and other celebrities filmed a cover of The Beatles song "Let It Be".[5]

Ana Alicia was the national spokesperson for The Humane Society of the United States.[6] She has given out awards promoting Hispanic accomplishments in the media from the Golden Eagle Awards.[2]

Family

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Alicia married producer and entrepreneur Gary R. Benz on April 24, 1994; they divorced in 2016.[7]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
1981 Halloween II Janet Marshall
1989 Romero Arista Zelada
1991 Flamenco - un voyage andalou[8] Herself Documentary
1994 To Die, to Sleep Kathy's Mother Voice
2012 The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making of Halloween II[9] Herself Documentary
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1977–1978 Ryan's Hope Alicia Nieves
1978 The Next Step Beyond Angela Mendoza Episode "Portrait of the Mind: (1.9)
1979 The Hardy Boys Suzanne Clifford Episode "Life on the Line" (3.10)
1979 Battlestar Galactica Aurora Episode "Take the Celestra" (1.20)
1979 The Sacketts (TV movie) Drusilla
1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Falina Redding Episode "Vegas in Space" (1.3)
1979 The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo Millie Rogers Episode "The Boom Boom Lady" (1.9)
1980 Galactica 1980 Gloria Alonzo Episode "Space Croppers" (1.9)
1980 Quincy, M.E. Nurse Nancy Berger Episode "No Way to Treat a Patient" (5.22)
1980 Roughnecks (TV movie) Yolanda Suarez
1980 Condominium (TV movie) Thelma Messenkott
1981 B. J. and the Bear Dolores Episode "Seven Lady Captives" (3.11)
1981 Coward of the County (TV movie) Violet
1981 The Ordeal of Bill Carney (TV movie) Lisa Saldonna
1982 McClain's Law Episode "A Matter of Honor" (1.8)
1982 Tattletales Herself 5 Episodes
1982–1988 Falcon Crest Melissa Agretti Cumson Gioberti 173 Episodes
1983 Happy Endings (TV movie) Veronica
1983 Battle of the Network Stars XV Herself - CBS Team
1984 Hollywood '84 (TV miniseries) Herself Episode (1.2)
1984 The Love Boat Samantha Gregory Episode " My Mother, My Chaperone/Present, The/Death and Life of Sir Alfred Demerest, The/Welcome Aboard: Part 1: (8.11)
1984 The Love Boat Samantha Gregory Episode "My Mother, My Chaperone/Present, The/Death and Life of Sir Alfred Demerest, The/Welcome Aboard: Part 2" (8.12)
1985 Hotel (TV series) Mary Ellen Carson Episode "Bystanders" (2.17)
1986 The CBS Easter Parade (TV special) Herself - Host
1987 Sex Symbols: Past, Present and Future (TV movie) Herself
1988 Moonlighting Mary Erin-Gates Episode "And the Flesh Was Made Word" (4.14) (as Ana-Alicia)
1989 Falcon Crest Samantha Ross 5 Episodes
1990 Miracle Landing (TV movie) Michelle Honda (as Ana-Alicia)
1991 Life Goes On Shanna Grey Episode "Lighter Than Air" (2.21)
1993 Rio Shannon (TV movie) Dolores Santillan
1994 Murder, She Wrote Sgt. Hilda Dupont Episode "Northern Explosion" (10.11)
1994 Acapulco H.E.A.T. Linda Davidson Episode "Code Name: Easy Riders" (1.12)
1994 Renegade Dr. Grace Prescott Episode "Sheriff Reno" (2.19) (as Ana-Alicia)
1996 Renegade Angela Baptista Episode "Hard Evidence" (4.19) (as Ana-Alicia)
1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Duchess of Earl / Businessman's Daughter Episode "The Pied Piper" (5.2) (Voice)
2004 E! True Hollywood Story Herself Episode "Scream Queens"
2015 Frontera Roja Soila Episode "Reencuentros" (1.1)

Music

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Singing
Year Title Song Notes
1985 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Mairzy Doates" Episode "Cold Comfort" (4.23)
1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Goody Goody" Episode "Cold Hands" (6.23)
1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Body and Soul" Episode "Body and Soul" (6.24)
1987 Falcon Crest (TV series) "Body and Soul", "Goody Goody" Episode "Loose Cannons" (6.25)

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1973 "The Odd Couple" Pigeon Sister Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater
"Busybody" Adobe Horseshoe Dinner Theater
"Boeing, Boeing" Adobe horseshoe Dinner Theater

Awards and nominations

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Awards
Year Award Category Production Result
1986 Soap Opera Digest Awards Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial Falcon Crest Nominated
1988 Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role: Prime Time Nominated
1989 Outstanding Villainess: Prime Time Nominated
1990 Outstanding Supporting Actress: Prime Time Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b "Famous Birthdays on December 12 - On This Day". Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Ana Alicia - Celebrities photos and facts". Archived from the original on December 4, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Ana Alicia - Biography and facts". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  4. ^ Falcon Crest Blog: Ana-Alicia singing on Falcon Crest
  5. ^ Celebs sing "Let It Be" for Gylne Tider, Leslie Nielsen cameos. Archived December 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Ortiz, Ana Alicia (October 11, 2015). "Ana Alicia Ortiz". Ana Alicia Ortiz. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  7. ^ David, Mark (February 7, 2017). "Gary R. Benz List Sherman Oaks Home (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. ^ "Flamenco - un voyage andalou (1991)". m.cinemagia.ro. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  9. ^ "The Nightmare Isn't Over! The Making of Halloween II". letterboxd.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
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