Ivonne Coll

Early years

Coll was born Ivonne Coll Mendoza in Fajardo, Puerto Rico where she received her primary and secondary education. She was an honor student and graduated from Nuestra Señora del Pilar school. She then enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico (Universidad de Puerto Rico) where she studied Social Sciences. Coll started her career as a fashion model. In 1966, she represented Fajardo in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant and won.

1971—1975: A girl named Ivonne Coll

At the end of 1971, the owner of television channel 11 in Puerto Rico, Rafael Perez Perry spotted Ivonne. His competitor had a show with a young starlet by the name of Iris Chacón. Perez Perry believed that Coll could have a show of her own to compete. Therefore, he sponsored the show which was called Una chica llamada Ivonne Coll (A girl named Ivonne Coll), which ran from 1971-75.

In 1976, she moved to Los Angeles, California, where she took dance and singing classes in the Academy of Stage and Cinema Arts. She landed a part in a theater play called "Burning Beach", which was presented in the American Place Theater.

Career in the United States

In 1979, Coll moved back to New York, where she participated in various Off Broadway productions such as: Spain 1980, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. In New York, film director Francis Ford Coppola recruited her for the role of "Yolanda", a Havana night club singer in The Godfather II. Although her role was small, the experience would serve her well in the future. She was credited as "Yvonne Coll".

In 1989, she played a minor role of a teacher named Mrs. Santos, in the film "Lean on Me" written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. She participated in the following productions: Orinoco, The Masses Are Asses (a play by Pedro Pietri), Medio Comuñas, Goodbye Castro, and Pancho Diablo (with Fernando Allende and Sully Diaz).

She won an ACE Award for best actress for Orinoco. When not acting, Coll attended the HB Studio and Lee Strasberg's Acting Studio. Among the television series on which she appeared were: Pacific Blue, Crisis Center, An American Family, The Bold and the Beautiful, Chicago Hope, Malibu Shores, NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, and Under Cover.

Later years

When Coll returned to Puerto Rico, she was invited to participate in La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja and Paper Flowers. She had a role in the locally produced film, La Gran Fiesta (The Grand Party), and in the TV show Cuqui. In 2002, she appeared in the film Besos de Fuego.

In October 2006, she played the title role in Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage at the Berkeley Rep Theater in Berkeley, California. From 2011 to 2014, she had the recurring roles on Switched at Birth, Glee, and Teen Wolf. Beginning in the fall of 2014, Coll become part of the main cast as Alba Villanueva, grandmother of Jane Villanueva, in the CW comedy series, Jane the Virgin.