Laura Harring

Born:
Laura Elena Martinez Herring,
March 3, 1964,
Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, a small city in northern Mexico.

Family: Mother and two sisters moved to Texas when Laura was 11.

Ancestry: German and Austrian

Grandfather: Isauro Cairo, Mexican champion in Equestrian and Fencing 1954.

Laura was Miss USA 1985, the one and only Latina to hold the title.

Having been married to Count Carl von Bismarck, she retains the title of Countess, even though they are divorced.

     Born Laura Elena Herring, of German and Austrian ancestry in Los Mochis, a small city in northern Mexico, she moved to the United States with her mother and two sisters at age 11. While in Texas, multi-lingual Laura spent her high school years at Aiglon College in Switzerland. While studying abroad, she was chosen to participate in a summer project that took her to India as a social worker, spending a month digging ditches and planting vegetable gardens. The following year she spent backpacking around the world. Returning to the United States, Laura entered the Miss El Paso competition. won, went on to become Miss Texas, and subsequently garnered the distinction of being the first Hispanic ever to walk away with the title of "Miss USA."
     Briefly married to Count Carl von Bismarck, Laura made her major motion picture debut in the feature film directed by Garry Marshall, "Exit to Eden." She has also appeared in many television roles. Most recently, she appears in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive.