Rachel Ticotin
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
This pretty but tough Latina player began performing as a dancer before turning to acting on stage. In films and on TV, Ticotin (pronounced "tick-oh-tin") has often proven effective playing cops, soldiers, officials and other women with demanding jobs. She made her film acting debut playing a drug-addicted nurse involved with policeman Paul Newman in "Fort Apache, the Bronx" (1981). Ticotin received her widest big screen exposure as Melina, the enigmatic woman of Arnold Schwarzenegger's dreams in the lavish sci-fi thriller "Total Recall" (1990). TV-movies have offered her more centrality and a wider range of roles but Ticotin has yet to enjoy a stint on a successful series.
After starting dance lessons at age eight, the Bronx native made her stage debut a few years later as a princess in a production of "The King and I" at NYC's City Center Theatre. By age 12, Ticotin was a member of Ballet Hispanico of New York. She went on to work with such choreographers as Alvin Ailey, Geoffrey Holder and Anna Sokolow. Trying her hand at acting, Ticotin made her stage acting debut in the Baltimore run of "The Me Nobody Knows." Her film debut found her twirling again as a Gypsy dancer in "King of the Gypsies" (1978).
Ticotin had a chance to watch film professionals at work in NYC as a production assistant on Philip Kaufman's "The Wanderers" (1979), Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill" and "Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" (both 1980). Continuing to hone her acting skills, she studied at The H B Studio and made her off-Broadway debut in Miguel Pinero's "The Sun Always Shines for the Cool." Ticotin's film debut in "Fort Apache: The Bronx" was the happy upshot of her going to an open casting call. She moved to Los Angeles for her first job as a TV series regular on the short-lived military drama "For Love and Honor" (NBC, 1983-84) playing the only female recruit in a division of paratroopers. A few TV-movies and some time off for child-rearing followed before Ticotin won her first feature lead in "Critical Condition" (1987), a minor Richard Pryor comedy. Returning to TV, she joined the second season cast of ABC's "Ohara," a failed crime drama vehicle for Pat Morita, as a driven federal law enforcement official.
Though Ticotin still appeared in films ("FX2 - The Deadly Art of Illusion" 1991; "Where the Day Takes You" 1992; "Falling Down" 1993) it was generally in supporting roles. She remained a leading lady on TV in another failed series, playing a policewoman in "Crime and Punishment" (NBC, 1993), and several relatively ambitious TV-movies including "Prison Stories: Women on the Inside" (HBO, 1991) and "Deconstructing Sarah" (USA, 1994). Ticotin appeared in two 1995 romantic comedies in a supporting role in "Don Juan De Marco," opposite Johnny Depp and a lead in "Steal Big, Steal Little," opposite Andy Garcia.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Dance (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1966
Began dance lessons at age eight
1968
Made NY stage debut in a production of "The King and I" at City Center Theatre
1978
Feature debut, playing a Gypsy dancer in "King of the Gypsies"
1979
Was a production assistant on Philip Kaufman's "The Wanderers"
1981
Credited as dance assistant on Arthur Penn's "Four Friends"
1981
Film acting debut, "Fort Apache, The Bronx"
1983
Debut as a series regular, playing Corporal Grace Pavlik on the short-lived NBC military drama "For Love and Honor"
1985
TV-movie debut, "Love, Mary" (CBS)
1987
First lead role in a feature film, "Critical Condition," opposite Richard Pryor
1987
Joined the second season of ABC's "Ohara," as Asst. US Attorney Teresa Storm
1990
First major feature, Paul Verhoeven's "Total Recall," opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger
1991
Played an undercover narcotics agent in "One Good Cop"
1993
Co-starred in the short-lived NBC police drama "Crime & Punishment" as Detective Annette Rey
1994
Provided the voice of Captain Maria Chavez, a recurring character, on the Disney series "Gargoyles"
1995
Starred with Johnny Depp in "Don Juan DeMarco"
1997
Played a Guard in "Con Air"
2002
Cast as Vangie Gonzalez Taylor in the second season of PBS's television series "American Family"
2003
Had a small role opposite Jack Nicholson in "Something's Gotta Give"
2004
Featured in Tony Scott's "Man on Fire"
2005
Played America Ferrera's mother in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
2005
Appeared in two episodes of "Lost" (ABC) as the mother of Michelle Rodriguez's character Ana Lucia Cortez
2010
Cast in of NBC's "Law & Order: Los Angeles" as Lt. Arleen Gonzales
Family
Companions
