Table of Biography
Wanda De Jesus is an actress from America. In NBC’s television series ‘Santa Barbara’, Wanda De Jesus was the fourth actress to play Santana Andrade. She appeared in various TV shows as a guest performer, and she had a recurring role as MDPD Detective Adelle Sevilla on the CBS crime series CSI: Miami.
Early life
Wanda De Jesus was born on 26th August 1958, in Manhattan, East Harlem, New York, and The United States of America. As of now, she is 63 years old and is a citizen of America. Moreover, her zodiac sign is Virgo and holds a Hispanic-American ethnical background. Her parents were first-generation Puerto Rican immigrants. Besides that, there is no more information regarding his parents and siblings.
Talking about her academic qualification, she attended the High School of the Performing Arts in New York. She developed her passion for acting there. She then went to the ‘City University of New York,’ where she earned a bachelor’s degree in performing arts in 1981. Moreover, she spent a year off from education to join the popular New York punk rock band ‘Coney Island White Fish’ as a singer.
Wanda De Jesus – Professional career
Caption: Wanda De Jesus in the movie Illegal Tender (Source: SensaCine)
Wanda began her acting career in the theater. In the 1986 Broadway production of ‘Cuba & His Teddy Bear,’ she played ‘Lourdes’. In the play, she collaborated with actor Robert De Niro. The play gained her huge praise and helped her establish herself as a talented actor, as it was her ‘Broadway’ debut. She made her television debut in the same year with the NBC show ‘Another World,’ in which she played Gomez. Her first regular TV appearance was as ‘Leda Cervantes in the sitcom ‘Mariah’ in 1987.
Furthermore, she made her cinematic debut in 1990, following minor appearances in a couple more TV shows. She was cast as ‘Luisa Diaz’ in ‘Downtown,’ a buddy cop action comedy film. She also played ‘Estevez’ in ‘RoboCop 2’ and ‘Suzita’ in ‘Lucky Chances,’ a 1990 TV miniseries. Moreover, she began portraying ‘Santana Andrade,’ one of the most frequently recast characters in the NBC serial opera ‘Santa Barbara,’ in 1991. Wanda featured in the ‘ABC legal drama ‘Civil Wars’ (as ‘Linda Rodriguez’) and the TV film ‘Fatal Friendship’ (as ‘Darlene’) while still on the show.
In the ‘UPN’ series ‘Live Shot,’ she had a recurring role as ‘Liz Vega’. She has been in two videos ‘Debra Skelly’ in the political thriller ‘Executive Power’ (1997) and ‘Magdalena Scanlon’ in the crime drama ‘Time to Pay (1998-1999). She got the recurring part of ‘Detective Adell Sevilla’ in the ‘CBS’ police-procedural drama ‘Crime Scene Investigation Miami’ after acting in the TV movies Gold Coast’ (as ‘Vivian Onzola,’ 1997) and ‘Almost a Woman,’ (as ‘Mami,’ 2002).
Additionally, she made her All My Children debut as Iris Blanco, the mayor of Pine Valley, on June 14, 2010. She was cast as the head of the police squad on Law & Order: Los Angeles in 2010.
More Television Shows and Films Appearances
‘Iris Blanco’ in the ‘ABC’ show ‘All My Children’ and ‘Carla’ in the ‘FX’ criminal drama ‘Sons of Anarchy’ were two of her notable TV roles. She was seen in the NBC police and legal drama ‘Law & Order Los Angeles’ in the position of a commanding officer of the ‘LAPD’, ‘Lt Arleen Gonzalez’. After she joined the cast, the part underwent several important changes. Even after she had finished filming two episodes, a few episodes of the series were shot with a different actor.
She was cast as ‘Officer Siler in Richard Montoya’s 2013 film ‘Water & Power,’ which was an adaptation of his 2006 play of the same name. Wanda had seen the play and had been deeply influenced by Richard’s work. She then saw Richard at another event and discussed the possibility of converting the play into a film. Richard asked Wanda to listen to the script as a film after a year and even offered her a part in it.
Awards and Net worth
Talking about her awards and recognition, she has won several awards in her professional career. She won the Imagen Award for ‘Best Actress in a Television Film’ in 2003. Moreover, she received a nomination for an ‘NCLR Bravo Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series”. Again, she received a nomination for Imagen Award for her performance in the movie ‘Ilegal Tender’.
As an actress, she has worked in the entertainment industry for over three decades. She has earned a huge sum of money in her career. Talking about her net worth, she has an estimated $10 million from her acting roles in various films.
Wanda De Jesus – Relationship status
Caption: Wanda De Jesus with her boyfriend Jimmy Smits (Source: Zimbio)
Talking about her relationship status, she is in a relationship with Jimmy Smits. They started dating in 1986 after Jimmy divorced his first wife Barbara Smits. The couple is living together but they have no children yet.
Wanda is not a part of a rumor nor has controversy till now. Moreover, Wanda likes to focus on her personal and professional career.
Wanda De Jesus – Body measurement and Social media
Talking about her body measurement, Wanda De Jesus is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs around 55 kg. She has brown dark hair and brown dark eyes. Furthermore, the actress’s body measurements are 35-24-36 inches.
Caption: Wanda De Jesus body measurement (Source: Misca Gallery)
Wanda De Jesus is not active on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Moreover, she prefers to live a private life from the spotlight.