onceuponaman: Who is Ali Landry?

Who is Ali Landry? The entertainment and acting world knows Landry as a former Miss USA (1996), model and actress. She is perhaps best known as the Doritos Girl from her 1998 Super Bowl commercial, and for her portrayal of Rita Lefleur on the UPN sitcom Eve. In 1998, she was named by People magazine as one of 50 most beautiful people in the world.^[1]

Early life

Landry was born July 21, 1973 grew up in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. This southern region of Louisiana is referred to as "Acadiana", or Cajun country. Landry is of French (Cajun) descent.^[2]^[3] She attended Cecilia High School, graduating in 1991. In high school, she was captain of the cheerleaders. She attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana and majored in mass communication. She is an alumnni of Kappa Delta Sorority.

Pageantry

Her first foray into pageantry came in 1990 when she was crowned Miss Louisiana Teen USA. She represented Louisiana in the 1990 Miss Teen USA pageant held in Biloxi, Mississippi in July 1990, where she placed first in the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions, but was ranked seventh during the final competition and couldn't reach the final 6.
In 1995, Landry won the 1996 Miss Louisiana USA title, becoming the first former Miss Louisiana Teen USA to win the Miss crown. She went on to compete in the 1996 Miss USA pageant, which was broadcast live from South Padre Island, Texas in February 1996 — she placed third highest after the preliminary competition and second highest on average during the final Top 10 competition. She was the highest placed of the Top 6 finalists and eventually went on to win the 1996 title.
She is the first former Miss Teen USA delegate to actually win the Miss USA crown (her predecessor Shanna Moakler, previously Miss Rhode Island Teen USA, Miss New York USA and first runner-up to Miss USA Chelsi Smith, only inherited the title after Smith became Miss Universe).
Landry competed in the 1996 Miss Universe pageant held in Las Vegas in May that year. She placed first in the preliminary competition and was ranked second in the evening gown and interview events during the final competition. She was second going in to the next round of six delegates, but she was eliminated after the judges' questions.
Until 1999, Landry was the only former Miss Teen USA delegate to compete at Miss Universe. Her record at all three pageants was not surpassed until 2000 when Miss USA 2000, Lynnette Cole made the top 5 at all three pageants.

Post pageants

Landry has done much modeling for photographers and magazines. As a spokeswoman for the Doritos chips brand, she appeared in celebrated TV commercials airing during the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Super Bowl football games. She was named by People magazine as one of 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1998.^[4] Her house was featured on E!'s celebrity homes and on MTV's Cribs. She has been listed as one of FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World numerous times. She was twice named on Stuff Magazine's 100 Sexiest Women list. Askmen.com has named her one of the 50 Most Beautiful Women and 99 Most Desirable Women in the World.
In 2002, she hosted the second season of the hidden-camera series Spy TV. From 2003 to 2006, she was a regular cast member of the UPN sitcom Eve.
Landry has participated in the show Fear Factor and was runner-up. She is an avid athlete and also participated in the Boston Marathon.
Currently, she hosts the English and Spanish-language versions of Spotlight to Nightlight, an interview show on Yahoo where she talks with celebrity mothers about parenting issues. She also launched a lifestyle line, Belle Parish in 2009. Belle Parish launched with a children's clothing line in September 2009 and will be in stores Spring 2010. The line is inspired by her Southern upbringing and the keepsake items her mother saved from her childhood.

Personal life

Landry later met actor and TV personality Mario Lopez when he emceed the Miss Teen USA 1998 pageant and she was a commentator. They were engaged during the summer of 2003 and married on April 24, 2004, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in front of 50 guests at the exclusive Las Alamandas resort outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.^[5] Two weeks later she had the marriage annulled over infidelities committed by Lopez during the relationship.^[5]^[6]
She married film director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde on April 8, 2006 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.^[7]^[8] Their daughter Estela Ines Monteverde was born on July 11, 2007.^[9] Just annoused that she is pregnant with her 2nd child in late April 2011

Filmography

Landry and her husband Alejandro Monteverde made the film Bella together. Bella was directed by Monteverde and was produced by their business partners Sean Wolfington, Eduardo Verastegui, Leo Severino, and Denise Pinckley.^[10] Monteverde and the filmmakers received honors for Bella from the Toronto Film Festival, the Smithsonian and the White House. The Smithsonian Latino Center honored Monteverde with their "Legacy Award."^[11]

The director of the Department of Citizenship also gave Monteverde the "American by Choice" award for Bella's positive contribution to Latino art and culture in the U.S.^[12]
US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush saw the film and invited Bella's director to sit with Laura Bush in her private box during the annual State of the Union speech in 2007.^[13]