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Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition

Sofía Vergara

by Trudy Mercadal

Columbian American actress, producer, presenter, model, and businesswoman

Sofía Vergara is one of the highest-paid and most successful Hispanic actresses in the film industry today. In addition, she is a successful model, presenter, and businesswoman.

Latino heritage: Colombian

Born: July 10, 1972; Barranquilla, Colombia

Also known as: Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara

Areas of achievement: Acting; producing; entertainment; modeling

EARLY LIFE

Sofía Vergara was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, on July 10, 1972, in a traditional, Roman Catholic family. Her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, was a cattle rancher and her mother, Margarita Vergara Vergara, a homemaker.

Vergara began to take English in elementary school, which led to her becoming bilingual at an early age. She majored in dentistry at the National University of Colombia but dropped out to pursue modeling opportunities. Her modeling breakthrough arrived when she was discovered on a beach by a photographer and was presented with an offer to appear in a commercial. Vergara made her first on-screen appearance at seventeen for a Pepsi commercial in Latin American markets. Vergara married Joe González at age nineteen but the couple divorced a couple of years later, leaving Vergara the single mother of son Manolo.

Vergara moved on to hosting Colombian TV shows, which she did successfully until 1998. Tragedy struck the Vergara family when her brother was murdered in a failed kidnapping attempt, which led her family to move to Miami, Florida, seeking safety. Once there, Vergara found work hosting a Spanish-language game show named A que no te atreves, which ran from 1999 to 2000.

LIFE’S WORK

Vergara had her first lead role in the romantic comedy Chasing Papi (2003). In the following years, Vergara was cast in supporting roles in Four Brothers (2005) and Meet the Browns (2008), but she struggled to move ahead in the film industry and was cast in a series of small roles in various lesser known films.

In 2009, Vergara joined the cast of the series Modern Family, playing the role of Gloria Delgado-Pritchett. The show won five Emmy Awards for outstanding comedy series. In addition, Vergara received four consecutive Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for supporting actor and won a People's Choice Award in 2017. Modern Family launched Vergara to celebrity status. Meatier film roles followed and she starred in movies such as Machete Kills (2013), Hot Pursuit (2015), and Bottom of the 9th (2015), while she continued as part of the Modern Family cast until 2020, when the show concluded. By the end of its run, Modern Family had garnered 75 Emmy nominations and 22 Emmy Awards, including five Outstanding Comedy Series. It had also gained a following in the Americas as well as in Europe, South Africa, Israel, and many other countries around the world. Currently, Vergara has an on-air role as a judge on America’s Got Talent. In 2019, Forbes ranked her as the second highest-paid actress in the world.

Sofia Vergara (Glenn Francis via Wikimedia Commons)

GLLatin2e_p1073_1.jpg

In 2011, Vergara was named the face of CoverGirl, an American cosmetics brand. Various other companies have signed her to endorse of their products throughout the years. Vergara was so popular that her face appeared in countless commercials for national corporations. In addition to acting and modeling, Vergara became a successful businesswoman. In 1994, she cofounded with Luis Balaguer Latin World Entertainment, today a multimillion-dollar talent management and production company, and entertainment marketing firm. From 2011 to 2019, Vergara launched and managed her own fashion, fragrance, and jewelry collections.

In 2015, Vergara was involved in a legal dispute regarding two fertilized embryos while she was married to Nick Loeb. The embryos were kept in storage in a cryopreservation clinic and, as they separated, Loeb filed for custody of the embryos. However, Loeb later dropped the lawsuit.

Vergara was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000. Today, she is fully recovered and advocates for cancer research. Despite her fame and popularity, Vergara has often had to contend with mockery for her strong Latin accent, although throughout it all, she has preferred to take the high road and laugh it off, deeming it might actually add to her popularity.

Vergara is married to True Blood star Joe Manganiello, whom she married in 2015. The couple lives in Los Angeles, California, with Vergara’s son Manolo.

SIGNIFICANCE

Sofía Vergara is outstandingly popular in the Latino community, due to her warmth and what is perceived as her rags-to-riches trajectory in the film industry. Vergara’s success has persisted in film, modeling, and business, defying the odds in an industry that typically closes doors on women after forty. In addition, Vergara is considered a top influencer in the cosmetic industry. Sofía Vergara is a role model for her determination, versatility. and persistence.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Mercadal, Trudy. "Sofía Vergara." Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition, edited by Trudy Mercadal, et al., Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLLatin2e_0551.

APA 7th

Mercadal, T. (2021). Sofía Vergara. In T. Mercadal, C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Mercadal, Trudy. "Sofía Vergara." Edited by Trudy Mercadal, Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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