Born on March 15, 1975, in Corpus Christi, Texas, Eva Jacqueline Longoria is the youngest of four sisters. As surprising as this may seem, Eva was considered the "ugly duckling" of her family -- her siblings would tease her because she was the only one with dark eyes, dark hair and dark skin. Growing up on a ranch in the southeastern Texas city, Eva Longoria was drawn to acting but kept up her studies throughout high school. Following graduation, she attended Texas A&M University-Kingsville and earned her Bachelor's in kinesiology.
As a college grad, Eva Longoria had intentions of pursuing a career in science, but her lingering feelings for the performing arts did not dissipate. As a result, she entered a talent contest that led her to Los Angeles. Once there, "Miss Corpus Christi 1998" -- an ugly duckling no more -- was spotted by a theatrical agent who signed her immediately. Eva Longoria settled in L.A. and tried her hand at acting. Her agent got her an audition for the comedic play What the Rabbi Saw, which she nailed. After a string of performances in this show, she landed a guest appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 2000.
Still trying to make it, Eva Longoria got her first big break in 2001. She landed a spot on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless as Isabella Brana Williams. During her two years on the show, Eva won an ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama. With the Y&R exposure serving as a boost, Eva Longoria's career took off, albeit to a bumpy start. She starred in the film Snitch'd in 2003, a bomb about two rival gangs in Santa Ana, California. This was merely a hiccup on her resume, however, especially after Eva starred in and coproduced the hit live show Hot Tamales Live: Spicy, Hot and Hilarious. The variety show, which also aired on pay-per-view, was a hit.
Meanwhile, on the personal front, Eva Longoria married fellow soap opera star Tyler Christopher (of General Hospital fame) in 2002. During their brief marriage (they divorced in 2004), Eva's career reached new heights. In 2003, she landed the role of Detective Gloria Duran in Dick Wolf's L.A. Dragnet. Unfortunately, the show was short-lived, but its cancelation opened the door to bigger and better things. Though the future was unclear when Eva Longoria first auditioned for Desperate Housewives, her success was clear when the show debuted on ABC in October 2004. The scandalous prime-time satire about the scandal-laced lives of a group of sexy ladies in the suburbs attracted audiences immediately.
[ biography courtesy of AskMen.com ]
