Maria Alonso - Biography
Cuban born Venezuelan raised Maria Conchita Alonso is one if the biggest names in the Latin industry. She is an actor and a singer/songwriter who has contributed to the entertainment industry in over 60 films, 10 telenovelas, plays, 15 movies of the week and miniseries and in over 100 episodes of television on HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC, CBS, Hallmark and Lifetime to name a few.
Alonso was named "Hispanic Woman of the Year" by the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, and received a Bravo Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual or Act in a Variety/Musical.
She won a Golden Eagle Award for outstanding performer of the year, and an Alma Award for Outstanding Actress in Made-for TV Movie.
Maria's musical talents are highly recognized. Her first gold album and No. 1 song in the charts was "Love Maniac" in 1979, her name as a singer back then was A'mbar, after that followed her second No. 1 with "The Witch" and soon after "Dangerous Rhythm.”
She was asked by Giorgio Moroder to write the lyrics in Spanish and record "Vamos a Bailar" which he had written to be part of the soundtrack for the film Scarface. The song instantly became a classic amongst Spanish speakers.
She made her Hollywood film debut in 1984 in Moscow on the Hudson with Robin Williams, and also starred in movies like Extreme Prejudice, The Running Man, Predator 2, The House of the Spirits, Vampire's Kiss, Colors. She was the first Latin-born actresses to star on a Broadway show in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Alonso also acted in romantic comedies as Chasing Papi (2003) and The Princess and the Barrio Boy (2001).
Alonso was cast to play the mother of Eva Longoria, on the ABC hit show Desperate Housewives and also guest starred in the Latin version Amas de Casa Desesperadas for Univision Network. She was a guest star in the live-action film of the comic book El Muerto and in the film Material Girls in 2006 with Hilary Duff.
She Hosted and produced a weekly Spanish-language Variety Show “Picante," and a daily day talk show for Telemundo "Al Dia con Maria Conchita"; and as a speaker her topics are politics of Venezuela/Cuba, and her fight against anorexia and bulimia.
Alonso also hosted VH1's Viva Hollywood! in 2008 with Carlos Ponce. She portrayed Sam in the Werewolf horror film "Wolf Moon," which was directed by Dana Mennie in 2011.
Alonso shot Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem, in 2013. Since early 2014 Maria has been on tour performing concerts in Latin American, South America and Mexico in over 40 major cities.