Vanessa Marquez

Character actress Vanessa Marquez carved out a career with television guest roles until her life ended tragically. Born in Los Angeles, she earned notice with her first on-screen role. Alongside of Lou Diamond Phillips, she was one of the students under Edward James Olmos' tutelage in the inspirational drama "Stand and Deliver" (1988). That allowed her to spend the next several years working in films, frequently in television productions such as "Locked Up: A Mother's Rage" (CBS, 1991) and "State of Emergency" (HBO, 1994). She also strug together guest appearances on TV shows like "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-98) and "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992-99). Her steadiest work came when she began the recurring role of Nurse Wendy Goldman on "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009). She appeared regularly during the hit medical drama's first three seasons. She later claimed that she stopped being used by the show after making a claim of sexual harassment, and cast at least partial blame for her firing on series star George Clooney, who denied having knowledge of Marquez's claim or dismissal. After "ER" she had a recurring role on the sitcom "Malcolm & Eddie" (UPN, 1996-2000), but then roles began coming less frequently. She appeared with Lark Voorhies and Kadeem Hardison in the TV movie "Fire & Ice" (BET, 2001) and in the indie drama "Shift" (2013). Her final screen appearance was in Kevin Ruiz's short film "The Problem with Evolution" (2017). On August 30, 2018, police were called to Marquez's residence in South Pasadena, California over concerns about her wellbeing (the actress was suffering from seizures). When she pointed what was later revealed to be a BB gun at the officers, she was shot and killed. Marquez was 49-years-old at the time of her death.