Sônia Maria Campos Braga, Actress

Happy Birthday to Sônia Maria Campos Braga, born on June 8, 1950, in Maringá, Brazil.  Her father was Afro-Portuguese and her mother was Euro-Native American; the result is a stunning mix of beauty and talent.  Her father died when she was 8, and Braga worked as a typist at age 14 to support her impoverished family.  In 1977, Braga dazzled international film audiences with her performance in “Doña Flor e Seus Dois Maridos” (“Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands”).  In 1985, she starred in her first English-language project, the acclaimed “Kiss of the Spider Woman”.  She played a Mexican American mother in the breakout Latino film, “American Family”.  In 1997, Braga co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications and entertainment industries.