Alex Meneses (born February 11, 1965) is an American actress and model.

Early life

Meneses was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. She is of Mexican descent on her father's side and Ukrainian descent on her mother's side. Meneses studied acting at Chicago's

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

Improvisational Theater during summer vacations. Immediately upon graduation from high school, she received a modeling contract in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. Originally, her stay in Italy was only to be three months, but she fell in love with the country, and remained there for two years, becoming a successful model. When Meneses returned to the United States, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where she studied acting at the

Lee Strasberg Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

. In January 1981, she had a nude photoshoot in the Greek Playboy Magazine, her also being on the cover.

Career

Meneses was a regular cast member in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

comedy series ''

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...

'' in 1995. She later had the recurring role as Teresa Morales in the final season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

western drama series '' Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'', replacing actress Michelle Bonilla from the previous season. She also had supporting roles in a number of films, including ''

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

'', ''

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas ''The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas'' is a 2000 American romantic comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jim Cash, Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, and Jack Epps, Jr., and is the prequel to Levant's ''The Flintstones'' (1994), based ...

'' and ''

Auto Focus An autofocus (AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system has ...

''. She had other roles on television, appearing in an episode of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' as Cookie (

Joey Tribbiani Joseph Francis Tribbiani Jr. (born 1968) is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series. Joey is an ...

's sister), as well as episodes of ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a ...

'', ''

The Hughleys ''The Hughleys'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on UPN from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It was co-created by comedian D.L. Hughley and Matt Wickline and starred comedi ...

'', '' Any Day Now'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

'', and '' The Goldbergs''. Meneses has also appeared in numerous Los Angeles stage productions. She had a recurring role in the CBS comedy series, ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'' as Robert Barone's Italian girlfriend, Stefania. In 2015, Meneses was cast as aging telenovela star Isabela Santamaria in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

comedy series, ''

Telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

''. On February 19, 2021, Meneses was cast in a recurring role for

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

series ''

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meneses, Alex 1965 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago American film actresses American actresses of Mexican descent American people of Ukrainian descent American television actresses