Laura Harring : An Mexican-American Actress and Miss USA

Laura Harring, born Laura Elena Herring Martínez on March 3, 1964, is an American actress and former beauty pageant titleholder. Here’s a summary of her life and career:

Early Life

• Laura Harring was born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico to María Elena Martínez-Cairo, a Mexican spiritual teacher, real estate investor, and former secretary, and Raymond Herring, a Mexican developer of Austrian-German descent. Her parents divorced in 1971.
• She spent the first ten years of her life in Mexico before her family moved to San Antonio, Texas.
• At the age of 12, she suffered a head wound from a .45 bullet during a driveby shooting.
• At 16, she convinced her family to let her study at Aiglon College in Switzerland, where she focused on theatre and studied Latin dances like the Argentine tango.
• Later, she studied theatre at the London Academy of Performing Arts.

Pageantry

• Laura Harring won several beauty pageants including Miss El Paso USA, Miss Texas USA, and eventually became Miss USA 1985, making her the first Hispanic woman to win the title.
• After winning, she spent a year traveling through Asia, exploring Europe, and working as a social worker in India.

Acting Career

• Harring began her acting career in 1987 with the NBC television movie “The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory,” where she played Raúl Juliá’s character’s wife.
• Her first movie role was in “Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!” in 1989.
• She had lead roles in films like “The Forbidden Dance” (1990), “Exit to Eden” (1994), and “Black Scorpion II: Aftershock” (1997).
• Harring appeared in the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” and the NBC soap “Sunset Beach” in the 1990s.
• Her most notable role came in 2001 in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” where she played the characters of Rita and Camilla Rhodes. This performance earned her critical acclaim.
• She continued to work with Lynch in projects like “Rabbits” (2002) and “Inland Empire” (2006).
• Other notable films include “John Q” (2002), “The Punisher” (2004), “Love in the Time of Cholera” (2007), and “The Caller” (2008).
• Harring also appeared in TV series like “The Shield” (2006), “Gossip Girl” (2009-2010), and guest roles in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

Personal Life

• In 1987, Laura Harring married Count Carl-Eduard von Bismarck-Schönhausen, a descendant of Otto von Bismarck. They divorced in 1989, but she retains the courtesy title of Gräfin (Countess) von Bismarck-Schönhausen.

Recent Work

• In more recent years, she appeared in films such as “Sex Ed” (2014), “Inside” (2016), and “Father of the Bride” (2022).

This summarizes Laura Harring’s journey from a beauty pageant winner to a respected actress with a diverse range of roles in both film and television.