Hilda Suarez

Infobox character | colour = #BBDCFF
name = Hilda Suarez


caption = Hilda Suarez in Ugly Betty.
portrayer = Ana Ortiz
creator = Silvio Horta
gender = Female
first = Pilot (aka I Am Not Going To Sell Herbalux)
last =
cause =
age = 32
born = 1976
occupation = Beautician
title = Owner of "Hilda's Beautilities" Beauty Salon
family =

Ignacio Suarez (father)

Rosa Suarez (mother; deceased)

Betty Suarez (sister)

spouse = Santos (fiancé; "deceased")
Tony Diaz (boyfriend)
children = Justin Suarez (son; with Santos)
relatives =

Yolanda Sálazar (maternal grandmother)

Mirta (paternal aunt)

Clara (paternal cousin-in-law)
footnotes =

Hilda Suarez is a fictional character in the American dramedy series "Ugly Betty". She is portrayed by Ana Ortiz. Hilda's character is the American adaptation's equivalent to Julia Solano Galindo de Pinzón, Beatriz Pinzón Solano's mother, and is loosely based on creator Silvio Horta's older sister. [Silvio Horta has said that Hilda is based on his older sister who according to him was "outgoing and popular"] .

Background

Hilda Suarez is Betty's vivacious and somewhat vain older sister. She became pregnant when she was 18 years old, and gave birth to her son Justin, who she raised at home with her father and Betty, since Justin's father, Santos, was largely absent from his life.

Despite their clash of wills at times, Hilda is very protective of Betty and the rest of her family. With a fiery temper, she vents her rage at anyone who threatens her family, most notably next door neighbor Gina Gambarro. She also sometimes feels that she's being left out of her family, because Justin looks up to Betty as more of a mother figure than Hilda while Ignacio tends to be more protective of Betty. This often leads Hilda to be jealous of her sister, though their relationship remains close.

Although Hilda respects Betty's job choice, she often thinks that her sister is being taken advantage of at her job at "MODE" and feels that it provides her with an unstable lifestyle. Nonetheless, Hilda has several times taken advantage of her connections and borrowed clothing and shoes from MODE.

Hilda was largely unsuccessful with romantic relationships until she reconciled with her ex-boyfriend (and Justin's father) Santos during the first season, during which they eventually got engaged. However, in the first season finale, "East Side Story", Hilda was informed that Santos had been shot in a convenience store robbery.

Early in the second season, it seemed as if Santos had survived the shooting. However, this was revealed to be a fantasy Hilda had created in her mind to avoid dealing with her devastation.

Currently in the series, Hilda has found a new love interest, "Coach" Tony Diaz who happens to be Justin's P.E. teacher. They have a rocky start when they first meet in the episode "Betty's Baby Bump", but eventually agree to go out with each other in The Kids Are Alright",.

In the season 2 finale, "Jump", Hilda learns that Tony's ex-wife has returned, but they eventually make up.

Employment

For many years Hilda was unsuccessful in finding a career path. According to Hilda's resume in the episode "In or Out", her previous jobs included "Primary Skewer Girl" at "Zucchini on a Skewer" in New Haven, Connecticut. The resume also says she went to elementary school in New Haven, but graduated high school in Jackson Heights, New York.

At one point during season one, Hilda tried to recruit Betty to join her in a new venture, selling door-to-door products from "Herbalux", a health supplement company based in Poland. Later, she found herself out of a job after Herbalux was placed under investigation by the FDA and the company itself became the target of a lawsuit that was filed by a woman in New Jersey after she lost her hair using a hand créme days before her wedding.

Later, after Santos' death a devastated Hilda became housebound and spent most of her time with elderly ladies. Finally, she was convinced to follow her true passion and she became a beautician after graduating from cosmetology school. She would later start her own beauty salon, "The Sweet Hairafter" (later renamed "Hilda's Beautilities") thanks to Justin selling his Playbill collection.

Connections

*Walter Tabachnik - Betty's former on-again/off-again boyfriend; Hilda was more friendly to him and thought that he should be with Betty. She was also trying to ensure that Walter and Betty remain a couple and went as far as keeping a message that Henry left away from Betty. Now she is aware of her sister's feelings towards her co-worker. She backed off after realizing that Betty can make own decisions now that Walter has left for a new job in Maryland.
*Santos - Her on-again/off-again boyfriend and Justin's father; Her father would rather see him stay away from the family because of his gambling problems and that he ruined Hilda's life. He has been an absent father to Justin; when he does spend time with him, he appears uncomfortable and seems unable to tolerate his son's mannerisms, telling his mother he needs to act like a "normal boy." This angers Hilda and breaks up with him as a result. Hilda still loves him but broke it off with him when she became pregnant with Justin because she didn't want Santos to see him. Santos is a terrible role model, but he has a good heart. The show suggests that he is poor and lives in an unstable environment. He often gets in fights. He begins to come around more often and even accepting of his son; he takes Justin to see "Hairspray" and buys him a calendar filled with facts about Broadway. In "Petra-Gate" he asked Hilda to marry him and she said yes. In the season 1 finale, he was shot and killed during a hold up in a convenience store.
*Gina Gambarro - Next door neighbor; she and Hilda have been sworn enemies since they were kids. Hilda also blames her for trying to break up Walter and Betty, even though it was Walter who started it.
*Leah Stillman - Lawyer; Hilda thought that she would help Ignacio in his immigration case but played her for a fool by taking the money Hilda gave her and disappearing afterwards.

References