- Daniela Ruah
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Daniela Ruah Born Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah
December 2, 1983
Boston, MassachusettsOccupation Actress Years active 2001–present Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah (born December 2, 1983) is a Portuguese-American actress. She plays Kensi Blye in the CBS series NCIS: Los Angeles.
Contents
Early years
Ruah was born in Boston (USA), the only child of Dr. Moisés Carlos Bentes Ruah and his former wife Catarina Lia Azancot Korn. She has a distinguishable birthmark in her right eye, and her other eye is hazel. Her father was a resident in Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose, and Throat) in the Boston University-Tufts University Program. When Ruah was five years old, her father completed his Residency, and the family returned to Portugal, where the parents divorced and where she spent the rest of her childhood.[citation needed] Her father is of Portuguese-Jewish descent. Ruah's mother is the daughter of a Sephardi mother, who was born in Portugal, and an Ashkenazi father, who was born (1922) in what is now Wrocław, Poland.[citation needed]
Ruah attended Saint Julian's School in Carcavelos, near Lisbon. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from London Metropolitan University.[1] She was an active member of the Portuguese Jewish community, of which her father's second cousin, also a doctor, is the head. In 2003, the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) ran a piece about an annual gathering of Jewish young people from 32 countries sponsored by European Union of Jewish Students. Ruah, then 19 and still living in Lisbon, was one of the students the JTA interviewed. She said, "I've never been around as many Jews in my entire life. Here, you don't feel the need to explain to people who you are. I am meeting people who eat kosher for the first time ever."[2]
Ruah speaks three languages fluently—Portuguese, English, and Spanish. She holds dual citizenship in the United States and Portugal.[citation needed]
Career
Ruah started acting in Portuguese soap operas when she was a teen. Her first acting role came at the age of 16, when she auditioned for the soap opera Jardins Proibidos and won the role of Sara.[3] Ruah kept working on diverse projects while she was finishing high school. At the age of 18, she moved to London to study at the London Metropolitan University, where she earned a First in Performing Arts. Ruah returned to Portugal to pursue her acting career. She was the winner of the celebrity dancing competition Dança Comigo and had principal roles in television series, short films, and theatre. In 2007, she moved to New York to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.[citation needed]
Ruah stars as Special Agent Kensi Blye in NCIS: Los Angeles, which premiered on September 22, 2009. Season 2 premiered on September 21, 2010, and airs Tuesdays at 9:00 pm on CBS,[4] following NCIS at 8:00 p.m.[5]
Awards
In 2010, Ruah won the Portuguese Golden Globe award for 'Revelation of the Year'. In June 2010, she was nominated for best TV Action female actress in the Teen Choice Awards. Daniela Ruah has been pre-nominated for an Emmy Award in June 2011.[6] Winner of TV Action Icon Award 2011
Filmography
Films
- 2011 - "Sophia" in Red Tails
- 2012 - Uncharted
Short films
- 2006 - Canaviais
- 2008 - Blind Confession
- 2009 - Midnight Passion
- 2010 - Tu & Eu
Television
Portugal:
- 2000/2001 - Sara in Jardins Proibidos, TVI
- 2001 - Zézinha in Querida Mãe, SIC
- 2001 - Mónica in Elsa, Uma Mulher Assim, RTP
- 2008 - Rita in Casos da Vida (2008) (guest star), TVI
United States:
- 2009–present - Special Agent Kensi Blye in NCIS: Los Angeles, female lead role alongside Eric Christian Olsen, Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J
- 2011 - Special Agent Kensi Blye in Hawaii Five-0 crossover episode with NCIS: Los Angeles
References
- ^ "Hollywood movie and major LA pilot for London Met graduate". London Metropolitan University. 19 October 2009. http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/latest-news/october-2009/hollywood-movie-and-major-la-pilot-for-london-met-graduate.cfm. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- ^ Nate Bloom (February 24, 2010). Jewz in the Newz. 156. The American Israelite. p. 18.
- ^ Ruah, Daniela. "Daniela Ruah IMDb filmography". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2079733. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
- ^ Matt Mitovich (24 June 2009). "Fall TV: CBS Announces Premiere Dates". TV Guide Online. http://www.tvguide.com/News/FallTV-CBS-premieres-1007227.aspx. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
- ^ "Breaking News - CBS Announces 2009-2010 Primetime Schedule" (Press release). CBS via The Futon Critic. May 20, 2009. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?date=05/20/09&id=20090520cbs01. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
- ^ 2010 Teen Choice Award Nominees & * WINNERS
External links
Categories:- 1983 births
- 20th-century Sephardi Jews
- 21st-century Sephardi Jews
- Actors from Massachusetts
- American expatriates in Portugal
- American Jews
- American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent
- American television actors
- Living people
- People from Boston, Massachusetts
- Portuguese expatriates in the United States
- Portuguese Jews
- Portuguese television actors
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