Eva Mendes

Mendes in 2011, CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Eva de la Caridad Mendez

Place of Birth: Miami, Florida, U.S.

Date of Birth: March 5, 1974

Ethnicity: Cuban [Spanish, some African, possibly other]

Eva Mendes is an American actress, model, and businessperson. Her films include Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, My Brother the Pig, Urban Legends: Final Cut, Exit Wounds, Training Day, All About the Benjamins, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Out of Time, Stuck on You, Hitch, The Wendell Baker Story, Guilty Hearts, Trust the Man, Ghost Rider, We Own the Night, Live!, Cleaner (2007), The Women, The Spirit (2008), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Other Guys, Last Night (2010), Holy Motors, Girl in Progress, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Lost River. She has been an ambassador for Calvin Klein, Cartier, Reebok, Pantene shampoo, Morgan, and Peek & Cloppenburg, has designed for workwear retailer New York & Company, and is creative director of makeup line CIRCA Beauty.

Eva was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents, Eva Perez Suarez, who worked at a movie theatre and an aerospace company, and Juan Carlos Mendes, who ran a meat distribution business. She has said that she has African-Cuban ancestry. She speaks Spanish fluently. Eva was raised mostly by her mother in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood.

Eva has two children with her partner, Canadian-born actor, writer, director, musician, and producer Ryan Gosling.

One of Eva’s grandmothers was named Amada.

Mendes in 2008, photo credit: Thierry Caro