Born in Buffalo, New York, Maria left home at 17 years old to pursue a dance career and landed in Las Vegas as a showgirl assistant to Sigfreid and Roy. She continued kicking throughout the U.S. and Asia performing with Prince and other musical greats until words got in the way. Maria began acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory and has appeared on stage in plays in London and Los Angeles. In addition to acting, Maria has also produced the short films Ant, The Bug In My Ear and the feature April's Shower. Maria is an advocate of homeless children and incredibly active with The Children Mending Hearts Foundation and The Children Of Vietnam. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Blair Harrison (founder of Frequency.com) and son, Nam, whom they adopted from Hanoi, Vietnam.