Laura Harring

Laura Elena Harring (' Herring Martínez, formerly Gräfin von Bismarck-Schönhausen; born March 3, 1964) is a Mexican and American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1985 and later began acting in television and film. She is best known for her lead role as Rita in the 2001 movie Mulholland Drive. Her other films include The Forbidden Dance (1990), John Q (2002), Willard (2003), The Punisher (2004), The King (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), Ghost Son (2007), The Caller (2008), Drool (2009), Sex Ed (2014), and Inside (2016). She also played Carla Greco in General Hospital (1990–1991), Paula Stevens on Sunset Beach (1997), and Rebecca "Becca" Doyle in The Shield (2006).

Life and career

Early years and education

Laura Elena Herring Martínez was born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, on March 3, 1964.^[1] Her mother, María Elena Martínez-Cairo, is a Mexican spiritual teacher, real estate investor, and former secretary. Her father, Raymond Herring, was a Mexican developer and organic farmer of Austrian-German descent.^[2] The two divorced in 1971. Harring lived the first ten years of her life in Guasave Sinaloa Mexico, before her family relocated to San Antonio, Texas. Harring suffered a head wound from a .45 bullet when she was caught by stray fire from a driveby shooting at age 12.^[3][4] At age 16, she convinced her family to let her study in Switzerland at Aiglon College. Harring studied theatre at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, having trained in the Italian commedia dell'arte, as well as Latin dances, including the Argentine tango.^[5] She eventually returned to the United States, settling down in El Paso, Texas, and began competing in beauty pageants.

Pageantry

Harring won Miss El Paso USA, Miss Texas USA, then Miss USA 1985, becoming the first Hispanic woman to do so.^[6][7][8] Harring then spent the next year traveling through Asia, exploring Europe and working as a social worker in India.^[9] Her national costume at Miss Universe was a cowgirl.

Acting

Harring began acting in 1987, in the NBC television movie The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory (1987).^[6] She played Raúl Juliá's character's wife, having been cast by NBC producers after they saw her on the Miss USA broadcast and contacted her with the role.^[10] In 1989, she appeared in her first movie, Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!,^[11] in the supporting role of Jerri, a flight attendant.^[12]

In 1990, Harring was lead actress in the Columbia Pictures release The Forbidden Dance, in which she played the role of Nisa, a Brazilian princess.^[13] That same year, she began a recurring role on the ABC daytime soap General Hospital, as Carla Greco.^[14] The next few years, she had supporting roles in movies - Exit to Eden (1994),^[15] and Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997).^[16] In 1997, she played the role of Paula Stevens in the NBC soap opera Sunset Beach.^[17] After leaving the show, she guest-starred on Frasier in the episode "Dial M for Martin", and appeared in the comedy film Little Nicky.^[18]

Harring is best known for her performance in David Lynch's 2001 movie Mulholland Drive, opposite Naomi Watts and Justin Theroux. She played both the characters of Rita (an amnesiac who names herself after Rita Hayworth when seeing the name on a poster for the movie Gilda) and Camilla.^[19] In response to her performance and the choice of her for the role, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Not many actresses would be bold enough to name themselves after Rita Hayworth, but Harring does, because she can. Slinky and voluptuous in clinging gowns, all she has to do is stand there and she's the first good argument in 55 years for a Gilda remake."^[20] Comparisons were also made between Harring and Ava Gardner by the International Herald Tribune.^[21][22] In 2002, she was awarded the American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film for her performance. Harring went on to work twice more with Lynch—as an anthropomorphic rabbit in the limited series Rabbits (2002)^[23] and in a cameo appearance in Inland Empire (2006).^[24]

In 2002, she appeared in John Q,^[25] and was female lead opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Derailed. In 2003, she starred in Mi Casa, Su Casa together with Barbara Eden.^{[citation needed]} In 2004, she was the spoiled wife of antagonist Mr. Saint (John Travolta), Livia Saint^[26] in the movie adaptation of Marvel Comics's The Punisher.^[27] In 2005, Harring starred in the independent film The King, and later had roles in Nancy Drew, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Caller,^[21] and Drool, in which she plays an abused wife fleeing her husband.^[28]

In 2006, Harring joined the cast of FX's crime drama, The Shield, as defense attorney Rebecca Doyle,^[29] appearing in nine episodes of season five. In the role, she is hired by lead character Vic Mackey to protect his team of corrupt police officers against an Internal Affairs investigation.^[29] From 2009 to 2010, she also appeared in four episodes as Evelyn Bass/Elizabeth Fisher in The CW series Gossip Girl.^[30][31] In the show, she plays a woman posing as the long-lost mother of the character Chuck Bass, before her deceit is discovered by the other characters. She also guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2003, Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2010, and NCIS: Los Angeles in 2012 and 2016.^[32] Harring was also cast in the independent film The Loner directed by Daniel Grove.^[33] In 2016 she was cast in the English-language remake of the film Inside,^[34] and in Legendary's first digital film The Thinning, alongside Logan Paul and Peyton List. In 2022, she appeared in the romantic comedy Father of the Bride playing Diego Boneta's mother.^[35]

Personal life

In 1987, Harring married Count Carl-Eduard von Bismarck-Schönhausen, great-great-grandson of Otto von Bismarck. They divorced after two years of marriage in 1989.^[36]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. ^ "Laura Harring". onthisday.com. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
2. ^ Frank Javier Garcia Berumen (2014). Latino Image Makers in Hollywood: Performers, Filmmakers and Films Since the 1960s. McFarland. p. 307 ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Cover Story: Being shot in the head with a .45 changed my life". Scottish Daily Record. 2004.
4. ^ "Women We Love: Laura Elena Harring". Esquire. February 1, 2002. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008.
5. ^ "Laura Harring" www.filmbug.com
6. ^ "Laura Elena Harring Biography". Yahoo! Movies.
7. ^ "Laura Harring: Biography". TV Guide.
8. ^ "Laura Elena Harring movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography". AllMovie. 1964-03-03. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
9. ^ "Laura Harring" Archived 2016-10-31 at the Wayback Machine www.askmen.com
10. ^ Melissa Parker (August 10, 2010). "Laura Harring Interview: 'Mulholland Drive' Star Discovered at Miss USA Pageant". Smashing Interviews Magazine.
11. ^ "30th Anniversary Silent Night, Deadly Night Retrospective: Part 3 - Dread Central". www.dreadcentral.com. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
12. ^ Roxburgh, Charles; Farley, Matt; Scalzo, Tom (2004). ShockJuly: An Adventure in Horror. iUniverse, Inc. p. 109. ISBN 0-595-30858-9.
13. ^ Erbland, Kate (March 16, 2015). "Celebrating 25 Years of the Dueling Lambada Movies". Vanity Fair
14. ^ Kellner, Elena (June 24, 1993). "Perez Joins '$2 Million Tip' Film Cast". Los Angeles Times
15. ^ "Exit to Eden: Cast & Crew". TV Guide.
16. ^ Sherman, Fraser A. (2000). Cyborgs, Santa Claus and Satan: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Made for Television. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-4341-3.
17. ^ Javier, Frank & Berumen, Garcia (2014). Latino Image Makers in Hollywood: Performers, Filmmakers and Films Since the 1960s. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-7864-7432-5.
18. ^ "Little Nicky: Cast & Crew". TV Guide.
19. ^ Giannopoulou, Zina (ed.) (2013). Mulholland Drive. Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-415-82465-1.
20. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 12, 2001). "Mulholland Drive". RogerEbert.com.
21. ^ Verswijver, Leo (February 3, 2015). "Laura Harring: 'Film means something, you can make a difference with a film'". filmsite.org.
22. ^ Dupont, Joan (May 19, 2001). "Cannes Film Festival: A Smooth Exterior But Wild at Heart: David Lynch in Competition for 4th Time". International Herald Tribune
23. ^ Thomas, Bryan (April 16, 2017). "'Rabbits': David Lynch's surreal sitcom about three rabbits". Night Flight. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
24. ^ Keesey, Douglas (2010). Neo-Noir. Kamera Books. ISBN 978-1-84243-311-9.
25. ^ Berry, S. Torriano & Berry, Venise T. (2007). The A to Z of African American Cinema. Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-8108-6871-7.
26. ^ Ebert, Roger (2007). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Inc. p. 561. ISBN 978-0-7407-6157-7.
27. ^ "The Punisher". Rotten Tomatoes. 16 April 2004. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
28. ^ "Trio cast in 'Drool'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 26, 2008.
29. ^ Shister, Gail (2005-10-27). "Laura Harring joins 'Shield'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
30. ^ "'Gossip Girl' Spoilers: More on Chuck's Mother". Buddy TV. December 10, 2009.
31. ^ "Laura Harring to Play Chuck Bass' Mom". TV Fanatic. 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
32. ^ "Laura Harring: Credits". TV Guide. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
33. ^ Fuller, Graham (22 April 2016). "Tribeca Film Festival 2016 round-up". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
34. ^ Squires, John (May 4, 2016). "Laura Harring Joins English-Language Inside Remake". Dread Central
35. ^ "Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan Headline a Father of a Bride Worth Attending". pastemagazine.com. June 14, 2022. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
36. ^ "Laura Harring: Countess von Bismarck, I presume". The Independent. 13 December 2001. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
37. ^ Ebert, Roger (2007). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Inc. p. 561. ISBN 978-0-7407-6157-7.

External links

• Official website
• Laura Harring at IMDb