# Lisa Vidal

Lisa Vidal (born June 13, 1965) is an American actress of Puerto Rican heritage. She starred in the Lifetime crime drama series, The Division (2001–2004), and BET drama series, Being Mary Jane (2013–2019). Vidal also starred in the short-lived series, High Incident (1996–97) and The Event (2010–11), and had major recurring roles on Third Watch (1999–2001) and ER (2001–2004).

## Early life

Vidal's parents moved from Puerto Rico and settled in Manhattan, where Vidal and her two sisters, Christina and Tanya, were born. She also has a brother named Christian. After Vidal finished her elementary education, she auditioned and was accepted in the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. When she graduated, Vidal went to work with La Familia Theater Company, alongside Raul Julia and Julia Roberts. Vidal was 14 years old when she acted in the theatre series Oye Willie and later on made her feature debut with a small role in Delivery Boys. Soon, she was working in television with parts in shows such as The Cosby Show.

## Career

In 1992, Vidal appeared in the crime drama film, Night and the City, alongside Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange, directed by Irwin Winkler. She starred alongside Lauren Vélez and Rita Moreno in the 1994 comedy-drama film, I Like It Like That. From 1994–1995, she appeared in New York Undercover in a recurring role as a reporter named Carmen. In the series she was sister to Det. Eddie Torres, played by Michael DeLorenzo. In 1995, she did some Off-Broadway theatre and worked on The Commish. Vidal has also appeared in a number of other films, such as Mighty Aphrodite (1995), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998), and Chasing Papi (2003). She played a leading role in the 2007 psychological horror film, Dark Mirror.
Vidal was series regular on the ABC police drama, High Incident (1995–1996), and on The Brian Benben Show in 1998, and later had major recurring roles on Third Watch from 1999 to 2001 as Dr. Sarah Morales and ER from 2001 to 2004 as firefighter Sandy Lopez. From 2001 to 2004, Vidal starred opposite Bonnie Bedelia in the Lifetime drama series, The Division, for which she received the 2002 nomination for the ALMA Award in the Best Actress Category. In 2006, she had a brief role in the short-lived action series Smith as one of the federal agents looking for Ray Liotta's group of thieves. In 2010 she starred in NBC drama, The Event, playing the First Lady of the United States. Vidal also starred in a number of made-for-television movies, including The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998), Naughty or Nice (2004), and Odd Girl Out (2005).
In 2013, Vidal began starring opposite Gabrielle Union in the BET drama series, Being Mary Jane, playing the role of Kara Lynch, the executive producer of Mary Jane's show. The series ended in 2017, and in 2019 BET released a two-hour film finale. From 2015 to 2017, she also had a recurring role in the Fox comedy-drama series Rosewood. Vidal also guest-starred on American Horror Story, Shameless and Chicago P.D. In 2020, Vidal was cast as Mari Garcia, the lead character’s mother, in ABC romantic comedy-drama series The Baker and the Beauty.

## Personal life

Vidal is a breast cancer survivor.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Delivery Boys | Tina | |
| 1986 | Christmas Eve | Maria | TV movie |
| 1988 | Nightmare Beach | Girl At Pool | |
| 1992 | Night and the City | Carmen | |
| 1994 | I Like It Like That | Magdalena Soto | |
| 1995 | Mighty Aphrodite | Chorus Voice | |
| 1997 | Destination Unknown | Marisol | |
| 1997 | Fall | Sally | |
| 1997 | The Third Twin | Lisa | TV movie Nominated – ALMA Award |
| 1998 | The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit | Ramona | |
| 1998 | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Barbara "Babs" Cardoza | TV movie Nominated – ALMA Award |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Lori Halloran | TV movie |
| 1998 | Naked City: A Killer Christmas | Lori Halloran | TV movie |
| 1999 | Hit and Run | Detective Rico | TV movie |
| 1999 | Active Stealth | Maria | Direct-to-video |
| 2001 | The Blue Diner | Elena | |
| 2003 | Chasing Papi | Carmen | |
| 2004 | Naughty or Nice | Diana Ramiro | TV movie |
| 2005 | Odd Girl Out | Barbara Snyder | TV movie Imagen Awards |
| 2007 | Dark Mirror | Deborah Martin | Nominated – Imagen Awards |
| 2009 | Signal Lost | TV Newswoman | |
| 2009 | Star Trek | Barracks Officer | |
| 2010 | Baby | Dominique | Short film |
| 2011 | A Day Without Rain | Ana Lanza | Short film |
| 2014 | Victor | Lila | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | Oye Willie | Unknown Role | PBS series |
| 1986 | "Christmas Eve" | Maria | TV movie starring Loretta Young |
| 1987 | The Cosby Show | Mrs. Miron | 1 episode |
| 1987, 1991 | ABC Afterschool Special | Gloria Rodriguez | 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Miami Vice | Angel Montepina | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Law & Order | Lena Armendariz | 1 episode |
| 1994–1995 | New York Undercover | Carmen | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
| 1995 | The Commish | Connie Muldoon | 2 episodes |
| 1996–1997 | High Incident | Officer Jessica Helgado | Series regular, 22 episodes Nominated – ALMA Award (1996) |
| 1998 | The Brian Benben Show | Julie | Series regular, 8 episodes |
| 1999 | Wasteland | Unknown Role | 2 episodes |
| 1999–2001 | Third Watch | Dr. Sara Morales | Recurring role, 19 episodes |
| 2001–2004 | The Division | Inspector Magdalena "Magda" Ramirez | Series regular, 88 episodes Nominated – ALMA Award (2002) Nominated – Imagen Awards (2004) |
| 2001–2004 | ER | Sandy Lopez | Recurring role, 12 episodes |
| 2006 | Boston Legal | Irma Levine | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Criminal Minds | Gina Sanchez | 1 episode |
| 2006–2007 | Smith | Valez | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Jessica Malloy | 1 episode "Burn Rate" |
| 2009 | Without a Trace | Detective Bianca Gonzalez | 1 episode |
| 2009 | CSI: Miami | Patricia Busick | 1 episode |
| 2009–2010 | Southland | Mia Sanchez | 3 episodes |
| 2010–2011 | The Event | Christina Martinez | Series regular, 14 episodes Nominated – Imagen Awards (2011) |
| 2011 | American Horror Story: Murder House | Stacy Ramos | Episode: "Afterbirth" |
| 2012–2013 | Grimm | Lauren Castro | 2 episodes |
| 2013–2019 | Being Mary Jane | Kara Lynch | Series regular, 51 episodes Imagen Awards (2016) Nominated — Imagen Awards (2017) |
| 2014 | Shameless | Maria Vidal | 2 episodes |
| 2015–2016 | Rosewood | Daisie Villa | Recurring role, 11 episodes |
| 2019 | Chicago P.D. | Alexa Rivera | 1 episode |
| 2020 | The Baker and the Beauty | Mari Garcia | Series regular, 9 episodes |
| 2020—2021 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Alma Ortiz | Recurring role, 3 episodes |