Understanding Vanessa Marcil’s Journey To Stardom, Family Life and Relationships

Quick Facts

Vanessa Marcil won her first career nomination and award for playing Brenda Barrett in the daytime medical drama General Hospital, for which she also won critics’ praises and top honors. From that year till now, she has never disappointed when it comes to portraying characters on the filming set. She has numerous film and TV series credits to her name and the list keeps growing with each passing year.

Marcil hails from Indio, California, US, where she was born to a contractor called Peter Ortiz and a herbalist named Patricia Marcil Ortiz. Her birth name is Sally Venessa Ortiz and her date of birth is 15th October 1968. This beautiful actress was raised in Palm Desert, California alongside her three older siblings – Tina, Sam, and Sherry Ortiz. Vanessa hails from a Mexican ancestry on her father’s side and Portuguese, Italian, and French ancestry on her mother’s side. The actress was a member of Indio’s Circle Theatre Acting Company during her days at Indio High School, Indio, California. Marcil also holds a law degree from the College of the Desert, Palm Desert, California.

Vanessa Marcil’s Career Profile And Rise To Stardom

Vanessa Marcil was eight years old when she developed a keen interest in acting. She had her first acting experience in high school with her school’s drama group. Vanessa performed several plays with the group as well as at numerous talent shows, one of which she won in the 6th grade by performing her own song.

The actress formally joined the show business in 1992 as one of the main actors in the ABC medical soap opera, General Hospital. She eventually won her big role in 1996 in the Academy Award nominated-action film The Rock which featured stars like Ed Harris, Sean Connery, and Nicolas Cage. In the same year, Marcil was cast as Syndey Carpenter in the television show To Love, Honor and Deceive and later as Kerry Andrews in High Incident (1997) and Danielle in 976-WISH (1997).

Over the course of her career, Marcil has had more roles in television shows than films.  The actress made her last known film appearance in the 2002 film Star Watch. She earlier starred as Erin in Nice Guys Sleep Alone in 1999 and as Maggie Harty in This Space Between Us in 2002.

A look at Vanessa’s career profile shows General Hospital is still her biggest career project. She starred in the medical drama from 1992 to 2011 and later returned to the show as a guest actress in 2013. The return saw her win the 2003 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actress”, an award she had previously been nominated for, twice.

General Hospital holds the record as the 2nd longest-running soap opera in the United States of America in the Guinness World Record. The television series debuted in the year 1968 and won 13 Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series.

Vanessa Marcil’s other credits include; Lifetime movie One Hot Summer (2009), The Nanny Express (2009), The Convenient Groom (2016), Stranded in Paradise (2014), The Wrong Mother (2017), and the 2010 web series, The Bannen Way.

The actress’s rise to stardom is also tied to her non-acting endeavors. She appeared in three episodes of NBC’s Lipstick Jungle and also hosted the reality game show Blush: The Search for America’s Greatest Makeup Artist in 2008. The actress has a clothing line (Kass Clothing) named after her son. She uses part of the proceeds from the sales of the clothing items to construct buildings for African kids and centers to help African mothers.

Vanessa Marcil is also the founder of the Los Angeles-based organization, Patricia House.  The group helps take care of kids whose mothers can’t afford to care for them by helping them find good homes. The actress has made a net worth of $2 million from her streams of income

What is Vanessa Marcil’s Relationship History and Who Has She Dated?

Vanessa Marcil has dated several men since she began her acting career. She has been romantically linked to the American-Canadian actor Nathan Fillion and American actor Jeremy Piven whom she dated in 1996  and 2005 respectively. The actress was also an item with American-Italian model Antonio Sabato Jr. as well as the American screen star Tyler Christopher. Her relationship with Antonio reportedly ended in 1989 while her friendship with Chris spanned between 1997 and 1999. Tyler is currently married to an American reporter called Brienne Pedigo.

There is no public record of Marcil’s relationship with these men: it is not known exactly how her relationship with them faired and what actually caused their separation.

As of 2015, Vanessa Marcil was engaged to a deputy sheriff she simply identified as “MC” on social media. It’s not known if they are still together or if she has found herself another man.

Who is The Actress Married To Now?

Vanessa Marcil hasn’t been exactly lucky with marriages as she has been married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was in 1989 to Corey Feldman, an actor best known for starring in the 1981 animated drama film The Fox and the Hound. Their union crashed in 1993 without producing children.

The General Hospital actress was led to the altar for the second time by actor Carmine Giovinazzo on July 11, 2010. Their wedding was a private one as it was attended by only close family and friends in New York. About a year into the marriage, Vanessa announced that she had suffered two miscarriages. The actress later filed for divorce in the month of August 2012 citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce. Their divorce was subsequently finalized in March 2013.

The actress’s love life may have been plagued by failed marriages, she still has someone who occupies a special place in her heart – her beloved son Kassius Lijah (born March 30, 2002). The young man is a product of her romantic affair with her co-star from Beverly Hills, 90210, Brian Austin Green. Vanessa shares a strong relationship with her son, Kass. She usually posts pictures of him on her social media pages. Kass is said to have already developed an interest in acting just like his mom.

Vanessa Marcil and Green started dating shortly after she abandoned her first marriage and prior to her second marriage. The two broke up after the birth of their son, much to the surprise of their fans. Their break up got messy when Brian filed a lawsuit against Marcil claiming that she was delaying paying a loan he had lent her. However, Marcil denied the allegations and the court dismissed the case in favor of Marcil. Brian later married popular American actress/model Megan Fox in 2010.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.