Apollonia Kotero

Early life

Kotero was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, the eldest of six children. Her father, Victor, was a restaurant manager, and her mother, Socorro, was a caregiver for the elderly. Always an outgoing child, she dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to become a model.

Early career

Kotero worked as an actress, singer and model. After winning the Miss San Pedro beauty competition, and following a stint as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams in the early 1980s, Kotero began acting in film and television series such as CHiPs, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Fantasy Island, Matt Houston and Knight Rider. In 1982, she appeared in the music videos for "The Other Woman" by Ray Parker Jr. and "Shakin'" by Eddie Money. She appeared in the 1984 television movie The Mystic Warrior as the Native American woman "Wicahpi".

Prince and Purple Rain

When Denise "Vanity" Matthews, then-leader of the girl group Vanity 6, resigned from its membership before Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain was made, Kotero landed the film's female lead role. Vanity 6, which was renamed Apollonia 6 for the film, also featured supporting singers Brenda Bennett and Prince's then-girlfriend Susan Moonsie. Apollonia 6 embarked on a worldwide tour to promote their hit single, "Sex Shooter".

Kotero had originally recorded a version of the song "Manic Monday" for the 1984 album Apollonia 6. Written and composed by Prince, the song would later become a worldwide hit single for girl group The Bangles. Prince's song "Take Me with U" featured vocals by Kotero, and it reached #25 on the Billboard Top 40 chart in the U.S.

Kotero left Prince's camp in 1985 to appear on the CBS primetime soap opera Falcon Crest, playing "Apollonia", the girlfriend of the character played by Lorenzo Lamas, for 10 consecutive weeks. She performed several solo songs, including "Red Light Romeo", written and composed by Jon Lind.

Later career

In 1988, Warner Bros. Records released Kotero's eponymously titled first solo album, Apollonia, and three singles were released, "Since I Fell for You", "The Same Dream" and "Mismatch".

She went on to appear in such films as Ministry of Vengeance (1989), Back To Back (1990), Black Magic Woman (1991), and two Italian productions: La Donna di una Sera (A Lady for a Night) (1991) and Cattive Ragazze (1992). She returned to television on such shows as Sliders and Air America (which co-starred Lorenzo Lamas, her former co-star in Falcon Crest), and also hosted The Jazz Channel's Latin Beat program. During this period an exercise video entitled Go For It was also released. Kotero could also be seen on E!'s Celebrity Homes and MTV Cribs, with friend Carmen Electra, The Test and Rendezview.

In 2005, Kotero formed a multimedia entertainment company, Kotero Entertainment, which formed partnerships with a number of producers to produce a children's animated television series, as well as feature films. Kotero Entertainment also began managing young talent such as television and film star Sascha Andres and young pop singer Nikki Barreras, also known as Nikki B.

In 2009, Kotero recorded with Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers on a cover of "When Doves Cry" for Spin magazine's 25th anniversary tribute to the Purple Rain album, entitled Purplish Rain.

Singles