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Rachel Ticotin (born November 1, 1958) is an American film and television actress.
Ticotin was born in the Bronx, New York to Abe Ticotin, a Jewish used car salesman, and Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra. Ticotin grew up in the South Bronx, which is mainly populated by Puerto Ricans, and where she received her primary and secondary education. Ticotin's parents enrolled her in the Ballet Hispanico of New York where she took ballet lessons.
In 1978, Rachel appeared as a dancer in the film King of the Gypsies, making that her official film debut. She also acted on the Off-Broadway production of Miguel Piñero's The Sun Always Shines for the Cool. Her first big break came in 1981, when she was cast as "Isabella" opposite Paul Newman in the movie Fort Apache, The Bronx. That same year, she was listed as one of 12 promising New Actors in John Willis Screen World Vol.33.
In 1983, she landed a regular role on NBC's television drama Love and Honor. Other television series in which she has appeared in are, Ohara (1987), Women on the Inside (1991), Crime & Punishment (1993), and Gargoyles (1994).
Among the movies in which she has been cast in are the following, Critical Condition (1986) as "Rachel Arwood," Where the Day Takes You (1992) as "Officer Landers", Falling Down (1993) as "Detective Sandra," Total Recall (1990) as "Melina" alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone and Con Air (1997) alongside Nicolas Cage, where she earned an ALMA Award for her role as prison guard Sally Bishop. In 1995, she played the role of Doña Inez, the Mexican mother of Johnny Depp, in the tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy Don Juan DeMarco, Depp playing the title role.
Ticotin has participated in over 40 film and television series, recently appearing in Man on Fire (2004) as "Mariana" and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005). Ticotin was cast as "Vangie Gonzalez Taylor" in the second season of PBS's television series American Family alongside Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, Raquel Welch and Kate del Castillo. Ticotin most recently appeared on television in season 2 of the popular ABC series Lost. She was cast as Captain Teresa Cortez, mother of Michelle Rodriguez' character Ana Lucía Cortez.
In 1983, Ticotin married David Caruso, with whom she had a daughter, Greta, born June 1, 1984. In 1989, she divorced Caruso and in 1998 married Peter Strauss, to whom she is still married.
