American actress Ana Ortiz was born on January 25, 1971 in New York City. The daughter of Philadelphia’s first Puerto Rica city councilman, she originally wanted to pursue a career as a ballerina. She studied ballet for eight years, until she suffered from pains stemming from her dancing en pointe. She was forced to pursue a different artistic discipline, which led her to singing. After training at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, and later at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, she pursued a stage career, making her debut in a regional production of Dangerous Liaisons.
Ortiz has a storied stage career, appearing in productions within and outside the United States. Notably, she was part of a European tour of the musical Hair, and starred in the acclaimed off-Broadway production of In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings, which was recognized by Time Out New York as one of the best plays of 1999. It was in 1995, however, when she began acting for the screen, playing a small role in the action thriller Condition Red. Four years after, she made her television debut on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: The Movie. In 2001, Ortiz got her first regular television role, starring alongside Kristin Chenoweth in the short-lived sitcom Kristin.
Ortiz has since received extensive television credits, making the rounds of many television shows as a guest star. Aside from guest roles in shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond, NYPD Blue, Blind Justice, ER, Boston Legal and The New Adventures of Old Christine, she had a recurring role in the war drama Over There, which aired for one season in 2005. In 2006, she was cast in another regular television role, this time for Ugly Betty. She plays the role of Hilda Suarez, the vivacious and somewhat vain older sister of title character Betty Suarez (America Ferrera).