# Marisa Ramirez

"'General Hospital's' Ramirez Not That Tough". Retrieved February 21, 2025.
Marisa Maguire Ramirez (born September 15, 1977) is an American actress, known for her work on television soap operas and for her role on the police procedural television drama series Blue Bloods as Detective Maria Baez.

## Early life

Ramirez graduated from All Saints Catholic School and then attended an all-girls school in Alhambra, California at Ramona Convent Secondary School. She grew up with her mother after her parents' divorce. She has described her background as Mexican, American Indian, and Irish. As a teenager, she attended a New Kids on the Block concert featuring her future Blue Bloods co-star and regular scene partner Donnie Wahlberg. Her career began at age 12 when she was brought to the attention of a major L.A. modeling agency, which led to an international modeling career. After modeling she transitioned into hosting and acting.

## Career

Ramirez is known to TV audiences from starring roles on four prime time and two notable daytime series. From 2013 to 2024, she played NYPD Detective Maria Baez in Blue Bloods and recurred as Officer Riley Dunn in Body of Proof. She started on Blue Bloods as a guest star in the third season before becoming a regular character from the fourth season to the 14th season. In 2011, she was a series regular on Lifetime's Against the Wall, playing Detective Lina Flores. Despite respectable ratings, the series was not renewed for a second season. Immediately prior to landing that role, Ramirez starred as Melitta on Starz's Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which was filmed in New Zealand.
After several guest appearances on Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful, Ramirez finally got her big break in July 2000, when she was cast in the contract role of supermodel Gia Campbell on General Hospital. She left this role in December 2002 to star in the short-lived ABC drama, Miracles. During her time on GH, she was nominated for ALMA and NAACP Awards.
In April 2006 she joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Jabot Cosmetics public relations consultant Carmen Mesta for five months. The character of Carmen was killed off. Ramirez briefly returned to the show in early 2007 as Carmen's cousin, Ines Vargas.
Shortly after, she moved to Colombia to film the Fox summer series Mental, opposite Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra.

## Personal life

In interviews given soon after she joined General Hospital, she said her parents divorced when she was four and remarried when she was 19, soon after which her younger brother was born. Ramirez married Nathan Lavezoli on September 22, 2002, and divorced him in 2011. On January 22, 2016, Ramirez announced she was expecting a baby due in May. In May 2016, she gave birth to a daughter, whose father is a former crew member of Blue Bloods.
She told a Mexican news outlet that she wished she knew more about her Mexican-American heritage, and that on her father's side she also had Native-American ancestry and ties to Arizona.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | All Souls Day | Alicia | |
| 2007 | Itty Bitty Titty Committee | Ellen | |
| 2009 | Columbia Ave. | Charlie | Short |
| 2010 | The Funeral Planner | Sierra D'Asanti | Video |
| 2010 | Contract | Sandra | Short |
| 2013 | Prosecuting Casey Anthony | Rita Ashton | TV movie |
| 2014 | The Extendables | Maria | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | USA High | Liza | Episode: "Excess's Ex" |
| 1999 | Roswell | Vanessa | Episode: "Leaving Normal" |
| 2000 | Senseless Acts of Video | Herself/Host | Main Host |
| 2000–02 | General Hospital | Gia Campbell | Regular Cast |
| 2003 | CSI: Miami | Susanna Medesto | Episode: "Hurricane Anthony" |
| 2003 | Miracles | Evelyn Santos | Main Cast |
| 2004 | Century City | Christina Dobbs | Episode: "Only You" |
| 2004 | Dr. Vegas | Eva Leon | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2006 | Without a Trace | Sara | Episode: "Win Today" |
| 2006–07 | The Young and the Restless | Carmen Mesta/Ines Vargas | Regular Cast |
| 2007 | Shark | Monique | Episode: "Eye of the Beholder" |
| 2008 | Supernatural | Tammi | Episode: "Malleus Maleficarum" |
| 2009 | Mental | Dr. Chloe Artis | Main Cast |
| 2009 | Castle | Angelica Fink | Episode: "The Fifth Bullet" |
| 2010 | The Suite Life on Deck | Francesca | Episode: "Mother of the Groom" |
| 2010 | CSI: NY | Tania Santos | Episode: "The Formula" |
| 2010 | Miami Medical | Katherine | Episode: "Golden Hour" |
| 2010 | Past Life | Rosa Sanchez | Episode: "Gone Daddy Gone" |
| 2010 | Rizzoli & Isles | Marisa Rodriguez | Episode: "See One, Do One, Teach One" |
| 2011 | Spartacus: Gods of the Arena | Melitta | Main Cast |
| 2011 | Bones | Paula Ashwaldt | Episode: "The Killer in the Crosshairs" |
| 2011 | Against the Wall | Lina Flores | Main Cast |
| 2012 | The Mentalist | Sharon Vasquez | Episode: "War of the Roses" |
| 2013 | Celebrity Ghost Stories | Herself | Episode: "Marisa Ramirez/Jimmie Walker/Lisa Vidal/Kate Vernon" |
| 2013 | Body of Proof | Officer Riley Dunn | Recurring Cast: Season 3 |
| 2013–2024 | Blue Bloods | Det. Maria Baez | Recurring Cast: Season 3, Main Cast: Seasons 4-14 |

### Music Videos

| Year | Song | Artist |
| 1996 | "Tease Me" | 3T |
| 1997 | "As Long as You Love Me" | Backstreet Boys |
| 1998 | "Wherever You Go" | Voices of Theory |
| 1999 | "Give It To You" | Jordan Knight |
| 2022 | "Bring Back The Time" | New Kids on the Block featuring Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley & En Vogue |