Eva Jacqueline Longoria Parker (born
Eva Jacqueline Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an
American fashion model. She is also an acclaimed
actress, having portrayed
Isabella Braña Williams on the
CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. She currently plays
Gabrielle Solis in the
ABC television series
Desperate Housewives. She became a nationally recognized
model after appearing in several high-profile
advertising campaigns and numerous
men's magazines, reaching #14 in the
FHM "Sexiest Women 2008" poll, and having appeared on the cover of
Vogue and
Marie Claire.
[Eva Longoria | 100 Sexiest 2008 | FHM.com] Longoria married
NBA guard Tony Parker in 2007.
Early life
Eva Jacqueline Longoria was born in
Corpus Christi,
Nueces County,
Texas, the daughter of
Mexican American parents, Enrique Longoria, Jr. and Ella Eva Mireles.
[[1], Latina Magazine Interview - Longoria says even with my real traditional Mexican grandma][[2], Longoria says - "I’m Mexican" ]
Longoria is the youngest of four daughters, her sisters being Elizabeth Judina, Emily Jeannette and Esmeralda Josephina.
The family lived and worked on a farmland that had been handed down to them from past generations, but they often had very little money; Enrique and Ella struggled for many years to give their children a decent upbringing. On
The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, Longoria shared with viewers an introspective look into the hardships she faced in her formative years while growing up poor; she took cameras on location to the family farm and showed how spartan their life had been. Longoria admitted that only when she had made it in show business, did things begin to look better for her family financially. In another interview with
Datelines Stone Phillips, she also revealed the snubbing she had received from her siblings. "I grew up as the ugly duckling. They used to call me 'la prieta fea,' which means 'the ugly dark one,'" Longoria said.[Photo Gallery: Stone Phillips Celebrity Interviews, ]MSNBC.com
