A gifted film star Maria Canals-Barrera was born in Miami, in 1966. While being a school girl, she used to take part in various school plays. In addition to that, she also participated in a number of acting contests that brought her multiple awards. Then she studied at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School and that’s where she understood she wanted to pursue an acting career professionally. That’s why she entered the University of Miami and got a degree in theatre art.
It would be interesting to know that her path to prominence started from a theatre and only then she began gradually appearing on TV. She could be seen in Marielena, Key West, The Tony Danza Show, etc. However, the main breakthrough happened when she had been featured in a sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place. Her other well-known projects include: Larry Crowne, Camp Rock, America’s Sweethearts and many others.
And now, let’s see who surrounds the star!

The father Ricardo came to the US from Cuba. It is only known that he was a great cook, loved his children a lot and taught them many things about Cuban heritage. During one of the interviews, the celebrity shared that her father passed away but there is no information when it happened.

The mother Sara also came from Cuba and she taught her daughter to cook delicious and healthy food. She loved spending time with the family but also managed to find enough time for herself. She was very close with kids and always supported them. She died in 2015, aged 77.

The actress has an older brother named Ricardo. It is not known what his occupation is but we do know that he was married to a designer Elizabeth Gerdts and they parented two children. However, it looks like they are separated now.

As for Maria’s personal life, she has been happily married to an actor David Barrera since 1999. The two lovebirds first met at a theatre set. It would be interesting to know that at first, they didn’t like each other, yet ten days after something changed and Maria fell in love with David’s unique personality.

Together, the couple brought up two daughters. The first one is named Bridget and she was welcomed in 2003. She is a talented singer, who is planning to become a musician. In 2021 she graduated from high school and took a one year break to try her hand in singing and songwriting. Apart from that, she also expressed desire to act and even appeared in Cristela. Currently, she is planning to enter the Berklee College of Music.

The second daughter Madeleine was born in 2005. While studying at primary school, she participated in different school performances and of course, spent a lot of time on movie sets with her stellar mother. Most probably, she is going to pursue her way in the filmmaking industry but currently, she is focused on her high school studies.

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