Naya Rivera life and biography

Rivera was raised in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California and has lived in or around Los Angeles for most of her life. Rivera is of half Puerto Rican, quarter African American, and quarter German descent. At eight or nine months old, she began to be represented by the same talent agent as her mother, who had moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling.

As a baby, Rivera appeared in commercials for Kmart, but her first significant acting job was at the age of four when she starred as Hillary Winston in the Eddie Murphy produced sitcom The Royal Family in 1991. The show received positive reviews and high ratings initially, but when star Redd Foxx suffered a sudden heart attack on set the show never recovered and was soon canceled. Nonetheless, Rivera received a Young Artist Award nomination for her performance.

Between 1992 and 2002, she had small roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, Live Shot, Baywatch, Smart Guy, The Jersey, House Blend, Even Stevens and The Master of Disguise. In 2002 she also appeared in the music video for B2K's "Why I Love You". She was hired for a single-episode guest appearance on The Bernie Mac Show in 2002, but was brought back to work on a further five episodes. She was later featured in single episodes of 8 Simple Rules and CSI: Miami.
In between auditions and roles, Rivera worked odd jobs as a telemarketer, a nanny and an greeter at an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

In 2009, Rivera was cast as Cheerios cheerleading squad member Santana Lopez on Fox's musical comedy series Glee, about a high school glee club. Rivera's character comes off as a cold-hearted and vicious cheerleader, who often shows her softer side to fellow cheerleader Brittany (played by Heather Morris). Rivera auditioned for the opportunity "to sing, dance and act all in the same show," and because she was a fan of co-creator Ryan Murphy's previous work on Nip/Tuck.

In 2010, Rivera made the Maxim Hot 100 list, coming in at number 61.The following year, she was ranked number 43. On the 2011 AfterEllen Hot 100 list she was ranked #1.

In May of 2011, it was announced that Rivera had signed a deal with Columbia Records to produce a solo album. Also in May, Rivera hosted the San Francisco GLAAD Media Awards.

During the 2011 Glee Tour, Rivera teamed up with Amber Riley for the duet "River Deep, Mountain High" and performed solo on "Valerie" as well as lending back-up vocals to several other songs.

In July of 2011, Rivera was nominated for two ALMA awards, in the categories of "Favorite Female Music Artist" and "Favorite TV Actress - Leading Role in a Comedy".

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