Vanessa Marcil

Vanessa Marcil was born Vanessa Sally Ortiz on October 15, 1968 in Indio, California to Patricia Irene Ortiz (born: Patricia Irene Marcil), an herbalist & Pete Ortiz, a contractor. She grew up in Indio with her parents, big brother: Pete Samuel "Sam" Ortiz Jr. (November 16, 1958 - November 7, 2019) and big sisters: Tina (b. October 20, 1959) & Sherry (b. September 7, 1962). When Vanessa was 8 she started acting in plays and even performed her own song at a sixth-grade talent show, which she won. Soon afterward she began pursuing an acting career and starred in several theatre productions before landing the role of Brenda Barrett on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital (1963) in 1992.