Profiles: Paola Turbay | Proimágenes Colombia

Paola Turbay was born on November 29, 1970 in Houston, Texas while her parents were working on their Masters degrees. Colombian model, television host, former beauty queen and actress, Paola currently resides in Los Angeles, California where she has worked in a number of productions.
 
After earning her degree in Psychology from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, she studied theater at the Acting Studio (USA) and participated in acting workshops with Colombians Fabio Rubiano and Alfonso Ortiz. In 1991, she was crowned Miss Colombia and a year later first runner-up at the Miss Universe pageant. Paola has also graced the covers of numerous magazines including Aló and Jet-Set, the largest selling issues in the magazine’s history, which led to her image being used by brands such as Colgate, Gillette and Maybelline. She has for many years supported the work of organizations such as the Red Cross, World Vision, Lions Club, Rotary Club and Minuto de Dios.
 
Her first television appearance came in a commercial filmed at the age of 13 and she later hosted segments on the QAP and CM& news programs and on Hola Paola as well as Colombian coverage of the Miss Universe pageant, the Grammy Awards, the Oscars, the Simón Bolívar Journalism Awards and the National Beauty Pageant on four occasions (1998, 2002, 2003, 2005) as well as the Colombian reality show Bailando por un sueño (2006).
 
Her career as an actress began with minor roles on series such as RCN TV’s O todos en la cama (1994), Caracol TV’s Leche (1995) and RCN TV/Univisión’s Eco Moda (2001). Her first major role came when she played a news presenter in Noticias Calientes (2002), a situation comedy which aired in over ten Spanish-speaking countries including the US Latin American market. She later starred in RCN Televisión’s Las noches de Luciana (2004). Her work in the US includes the series Cane (2007), Californication (2008), Novel Adventures (2008), Meteoro (2009), The Cleaner (2009), The Closer (2009-2010), The Mentalist (2011), Royal Pains (2010-2011), The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008-2011) and True Blood (2011).
 
She launched her film career with a role in Sergio Cabrera’s Perder es cuestión de método (2004) and participated in the Argentine short film ¿Cuánto cuesta la admisión? (2004) by Alejandro Mariotto, Lenny el perro maravilla (2005) by Oren Goldman and Stav Ozdoba, El amor en los tiempos del Colera (2007) by Mike Newell and Mamá, tómate la sopa (2011) by Mario Ribero.