Jenny Gago Biography

Jenny Gago is one of Hollywood's most versatile and respected Latinaactresses. Her powerful portrayal of the matriarch Maria Sanchez inGregory Nava's hit film, My Family (1995), was a critically acclaimedcontribution to what she describes as "an honorable and poignant script."Gago has starred in many feature films, including Coach Carter (2005) withSamuel L. Jackson, The Tie That Binds (1995), Bound by Honor (1993), UnderFire (1983) and Nurse Betty (2000) with Renée Zellweger. She was honoredwith the Golden Eagle Award for her performance as Garduna in the film OldGringo (1989) in which she starred with Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda. Hertelevision films include Grand Avenue (1996) (TV), Nowhere to Hide (1994)(TV) and Sweet 15 (1990) (TV). Series regular roles include "DEA" (1990),"Dangerous Minds" (1996), "Alien Nation" (1989), and "Freddie" (2005).Gago was also a member of the esteemed cast of the recent GoldenGlobe-nominated mini-series, "American Family" (2002), on PBS. Some of hermore recent guest starring roles include "Crossing Jordan" (2001), "24"(2001), "The West Wing" (1999), "The Agency" (2001), "Alias" (2001), "Jack& Bobby" (2004), "Without a Trace" (2002), and "Lost" (2004).Gago earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from UCLA. She wasthen personally awarded a scholarship by Lee Strasberg to attend hisInstitute.Honored by such prestigious organizations as the Association for theAdvancement of Mexican Americans, the Image Awards, the National Councilof La Raza, the TELACU Education Foundation, The Hispanic Women's Networkof Texas, the BRAVO Awards and the Alma Awards, Gago has also receivedawards from the County of Los Angeles and El Centro. The U.S. House ofRepresentatives recently acknowledged her for "her talents and portrayalof Latino characters in the film and television industry, as well as herdedication and drive to pursue nontraditional roles to pave the way forother Latinos."Gago's passion is her 13-year-old son, Sean. She loves family, friends,music and dancing (especially salsa), and believes in the spiritualevolution of man towards one human family on earth. She volunteersregularly in schools to support the importance of education.