Arlene Tur

Arlene Tur is an American television and film actress and model from Florida, best known for her role as Bebe Arcel in the 2008 television drama series Crash. The daughter of Cuban political refugees to the United States, Tur has had numerous roles in television in addition to a modeling career.

Tur was born in Miami, Florida. Her father, Juan Tur, is an avocado and mango farmer, while her mother, Illuminada Arlene Tur, is a nurse. Tur, who has no siblings, has described most of her early years being spent "reading books up in an avocado tree."She graduated from Florida Christian School and then attended Florida International University, where she graduated with dual Marketing and Public Relations degrees; Tur played professional beach volleyballduring her studies, and it was as a result of this that she was discovered and began modeling.

Tur's modeling career allowed her to travel, and she managed to gain proficiency in Italian and Portuguese, having already been fluent in English and Spanish. She also began studying acting during this time, studying with Uta Hagen in New York City and Howard Fine in Los Angeles.[2] She also studied with Ivana Chubbuck.[3]

Tur's first major role was in the 2003 Telemundo drama Los Teens. She has subsequently taken different roles, including a 2006 guest-star appearance on Grey's Anatomy, the television pilot Haskett's Chance, and the independent action film Final Engagement. She gained network attention for her role in the television pilot Harry Green and Eugene, which led to her being cast in her largest role so far, the LAPD police cop Bebe Arcel in Crash and plays the surgeon Vera Juarez in the currently airing (from 16 July 2011) fourth series of Torchwood, known as Torchwood: Miracle Day. Tur's career has also seen her host programmes for the Discovery Channel, E! Entertainment Television, theTravel Channel, and Univision�s music series Caliente.

Biography from the Wikipedia article, licensed under CC-BY-SA