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Charlotte Ayanna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charlotte Ayanna
Born
Charlotte Lopez

(1976-09-25) September 25, 1976 (age 48)
Other namesCharlotte Roldan
Occupation(s)Actress, beauty queen
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleMiss Vermont Teen USA 1993
Miss Teen USA 1993
Years active1995–2010, 2023–present
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBlue

Charlotte Ayanna (born Charlotte Lopez; September 25, 1976) is a Puerto Rican-American actress, author and former beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 1993.

Early life

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Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending sixteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after her children.[1] In 1994, at age 17, she was adopted into a foster home.[2][3] She has since become a spokeswoman for foster children.

Education

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Attended the University of California, Irvine.

Career

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Her first national exposure was in 1993, when she became Miss Teen USA.[4]

Following her pageant career, she worked with author Susan Dworkin to write a book, Lost in the System (1996), about her experiences as a foster child and pageant winner.[5]

Lopez then transitioned into acting, making guest appearances on episodes of various television series, including three episodes of Weird Science and one episode of Entourage. Her first acting credit, after changing her name to Charlotte Ayanna, was her appearance in an October 1998 episode of Profiler. She also appeared in the music video for fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martín's hit "She's All I Ever Had".

Her film roles include: a brief appearance as a fatality in Jawbreaker (1999); The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999); a stripper in Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000); Love the Hard Way (2003) with Adrien Brody; and a sexy vampiress in the horror direct-to-video movie The Insatiable (2007). Her last known acting role was in the film Christmas in Compton (2012). Penultimately she was in Rain from Stars, filmed in 2010 but not released until 2013.

Personal life

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After her pageant career ended and her book had been published, she chose to change her surname from Lopez to Ayanna, which she states means "blessed" in Cherokee.[4][6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Trojan War Nina
1998 Telling You Allison Fazio
1999 Jawbreaker Elizabeth "Liz" Purr
1999 The Rage: Carrie 2 Tracy
2000 Dancing at the Blue Iguana Jessie
2001 Stealing Time Samantha "Sam" Parkes a.k.a. Rennie's Landing
2001 Love the Hard Way Claire Harrison
2001 Training Day Lisa
2001 Kate & Leopold Patrice
2002 Spun Amy
2005 Once Upon a Wedding Margarita
2006 Push Lisa
2006 The Push Macey
2006 No. 6 Mila Short film
2006 The Insatiable Tatiana Direct-to-video
2010 Errand boy Candi Short film
2012 Christmas in Compton Ginger
2013 Rain from Stars Nora Completed in 2010
TBA The American Way

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1995–1996 Weird Science Annie/Jessie/Wendy 3 episodes
1996 Beverly Hills, 90210 Beth Rawlings Episode: "Here We Go Again"
1996 The Steve Harvey Show Jody Episode: "Pool Sharks Git Bit"
1996–1997 The Secret World of Alex Mack Hannah Mercury 3 episodes
1998 Profiler Kristen Episode: "Cravings"
2004 Entourage Joanne Episode: "Date Night"

Awards and nominations

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In 2002 she won the Best Actress award at the Valenciennes International Festival of Action and Adventure Films for Love the Hard Way (2001) tied with Kajol for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001).[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CNN - Former foster child 'Dancing' with Daryl Hannah - January 27, 2000". CNN. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008.
  2. ^ Charlotte Ayanna Biography (1976-)
  3. ^ TIENDA BORICUA, Antojitos y más Archived February 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b Martin, Peter (2003-07-01). "A Woman We Love: Charlotte Ayanna". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  5. ^ Lopez, Charlotte; Dworkin, Susan (with) (1996). Lost in the System. Touchstone Books. ISBN 978-0-6848-1199-4. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  6. ^ Vercammen, Paul (2000-01-27). "Former foster child 'Dancing' with Daryl Hannah". CNN. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
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