Ella Saldana North

A versatile performer, in the last few years Ella has gone from playing retired call girl Marla Golden in the popular TV show Criminal Minds, to playing

7-year-old rambunctious Bean in Ivy+Bean: The Musical at South Coast Repertory Theatre, to performing her own stand-up comedy sets at The Comedy Store and the HaHa Cafe Comedy Club, and playing and reprising the role of Victoria in the hilarious play Destiny of Desire at Arena Stage, South Coast Repertory, and the Goodman Theatre.

She received the Best Actress award at the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival for her work in the AFI film Echoes, and went on to be nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress for her work as Jilly in the play Family Planning, which won the Ovation for Best Production of a Play in an intimate theatre.

In addition to her stand-up work she has just completed Improv 301 at Upright Citizens Brigade, was part of the sketch comedy troupe Sketch-a-phrenics, and worked on the comedy pilots Manny in Real Life and Pub Quiz. She is perhaps best-known for voicing the character of Cecilia in the FOX animated comedy The Cleveland Show, with Rosie Perez and Sofia Vergara playing her crazy/gorgeous aunts.

She was the lead singer of the rock/pop band Kissing Violet for two years, and some of her songs are available on iTunes.

Last year she also appeared in the feature film Cry Now, which features acting greats Sal Lopez and Lupe Ontiveros, and shot Street Level with Charisma Carpenter, David Labrava, Marilyn Manson, and Danny Trejo, among others.

Ella holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of California, San Diego, and currently resides in a condo in Los Angeles, where no animals but several plants have been harmed.