Lisa Vidal (born June 13, 1965) is an American actress of Puerto Rican heritage. She starred in the Lifetime crime drama series, The Division (2001–2004), and BET drama series, Being Mary Jane (2013–2019). Vidal also starred in the short-lived series, High Incident (1996–97) and The Event (2010–11), and had major recurring roles on Third Watch (1999–2001) and ER (2001–2004).
Early life Vidal's parents moved from Puerto Rico and settled in Manhattan, where Vidal and her two sisters, Christina and Tanya, were born. She also has a brother named Christian. After Vidal finished her elementary education, she auditioned and was accepted in the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. When she graduated, Vidal went to work with La Familia Theater Company, alongside Raul Julia and Julia Roberts. Vidal was 14 years old when she acted in the theatre series Oye Willie and later on made her feature debut with a small role in Delivery Boys. Soon, she was working in television with parts in shows such as The Cosby Show.
Career In 1992, Vidal appeared in the crime drama film, Night and the City, alongside Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange, directed by Irwin Winkler. She starred alongside Lauren Vélez and Rita Moreno in the 1994 comedy-drama film, I Like It Like That. From 1994–1995, she appeared in New York Undercover in a recurring role as a reporter named Carmen. In the series she was sister to Det. Eddie Torres, played by Michael DeLorenzo. In 1995, she did some Off-Broadway theatre and worked on The Commish. Vidal has also appeared in a number of other films, such as Mighty Aphrodite (1995), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998), and Chasing Papi (2003). She played a leading role in the 2007 psychological horror film, Dark Mirror.
Vidal was series regular on the ABC police drama, High Incident (1995–1996), and on The Brian Benben Show in 1998, and later had major recurring roles on Third Watch from 1999 to 2001 as Dr. Sarah Morales and ER from 2001 to 2004 as firefighter Sandy Lopez. From 2001 to 2004, Vidal starred opposite Bonnie Bedelia in the Lifetime drama series, The Division, for which she received the 2002 nomination for the ALMA Award in the Best Actress Category. In 2006, she had a brief role in the short-lived action series Smith as one of the federal agents looking for Ray Liotta's group of thieves. In 2010 she starred in NBC drama, The Event, playing the First Lady of the United States. Vidal also starred in a number of made-for-television movies, including The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998), Naughty or Nice (2004), and Odd Girl Out (2005).
In 2013, Vidal began starring opposite Gabrielle Union in the BET drama series, Being Mary Jane, playing the role of Kara Lynch, the executive producer of Mary Jane's show. The series ended in 2017, and in 2019 BET released a two-hour film finale. From 2015 to 2017, she also had a recurring role in the Fox comedy-drama series Rosewood. Vidal also guest-starred on American Horror Story, Shameless and Chicago P.D. In 2020, Vidal was cast as Mari Garcia, the lead character’s mother, in ABC romantic comedy-drama series The Baker and the Beauty.
Personal life Vidal is a breast cancer survivor. Her son, Scott Jarred Cohen, died on April 11, 2021 at the age of 28.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1984 Delivery Boys Tina 1986 Christmas Eve Maria TV movie 1988 Nightmare Beach Girl At Pool 1992 Night and the City Carmen 1994 I Like It Like That Magdalena Soto 1995 Mighty Aphrodite Chorus Voice 1997 Destination Unknown Marisol Fall Sally The Third Twin Lisa TV movieNominated – ALMA Award 1998 The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit Ramona The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Barbara "Babs" Cardoza TV movieNominated – ALMA Award Naked City: Justice with a Bullet Lori Halloran TV movie Naked City: A Killer Christmas TV movie 1999 Hit and Run Detective Rico TV movie Active Stealth Maria Direct-to-video 2001 The Blue Diner Elena 2003 Chasing Papi Carmen 2004 Naughty or Nice Diana Ramiro TV movie 2005 Odd Girl Out Barbara Snyder TV movieImagen Awards 2007 Dark Mirror Deborah Martin Nominated – Imagen Awards 2009 Signal Lost TV Newswoman Star Trek Barracks Officer 2010 Baby Dominique Short film 2011 A Day Without Rain Ana Lanza Short film 2014 Victor Lila
Television Year Title Role Notes 1980 Oye Willie Unknown Role PBS series 1986 "Christmas Eve" Maria TV movie starring Loretta Young 1987 The Cosby Show Mrs. Miron 1 episode 1987, 1991 ABC Afterschool Special Gloria Rodriguez 2 episodes 1988 Miami Vice Angel Montepina 1 episode 1992 Law & Order Lena Armendariz 1 episode 1994–1995 New York Undercover Carmen Recurring role, 6 episodes 1995 The Commish Connie Muldoon 2 episodes 1996–1997 High Incident Officer Jessica Helgado Series regular, 22 episodesNominated – ALMA Award (1996) 1998 The Brian Benben Show Julie Series regular, 8 episodes 1999 Wasteland Unknown Role 2 episodes 1999–2001 Third Watch Dr. Sara Morales Recurring role, 19 episodes 2001–2004 The Division Inspector Magdalena "Magda" Ramirez Series regular, 88 episodesNominated – ALMA Award (2002)Nominated – Imagen Awards (2004) ER Sandy Lopez Recurring role, 12 episodes 2006 Boston Legal Irma Levine 2 episodes Criminal Minds Gina Sanchez 1 episode 2006–2007 Smith Valez Recurring role, 4 episodes 2007 Numb3rs Jessica Malloy 1 episode "Burn Rate" 2009 Without a Trace Detective Bianca Gonzalez 1 episode CSI: Miami Patricia Busick 1 episode 2009–2010 Southland Mia Sanchez 3 episodes 2010–2011 The Event Christina Martinez Series regular, 14 episodesNominated – Imagen Awards (2011) 2011 American Horror Story: Murder House Stacy Ramos Episode: "Afterbirth" 2012–2013 Grimm Lauren Castro 2 episodes 2013–2019 Being Mary Jane Kara Lynch Series regular, 51 episodesImagen Awards (2016)Nominated — Imagen Awards (2017) 2014 Shameless Maria Vidal 2 episodes 2015–2016 Rosewood Daisie Villa Recurring role, 11 episodes 2019 Chicago P.D. Alexa Rivera 1 episode 2020 The Baker and the Beauty Mari Garcia Series regular, 9 episodes 2020—2021 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Alma Ortiz Recurring role, 3 episodes
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