Lauren and Loraine Velez (born November 2, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York) are twin sister's of Puerto Rican descent who are actresses.

The twins parents imigrated from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and lived in the Brooklyn section of New York where the twins were born. Their father was a New York City police officer, who eventually brought a house in the middle class neighborhood of Queens and moved there with his wife and eight children. The sisters enjoyed setting up improvished plays and acting for the family ever since childhood. Lauren once played the part of a groundhog in a second grade school play and the experience left an unforgettable impression on her mind.

After graduating from high school, the twins both received scholarships to attend The Alvin Ailey Dancing School. They also studied acting at The Acting Studio and Lauren studied Shakespeare with Michael Howard. Lauren landed her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical "Dreamgirls". Loraine would often step in for her sister in Dreamgirls, in which they played the role of "Mimi Marquez".

In Broadway, besides doing Dreamgirls, Lauren played understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad. She also performed Off-Broadway in the productions of "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Fasade".

In 1994, Lauren landed her first major T.V. role. She was cast as "Nina Moreno", a policewoman in the T.V. series "New York Undercover". That same year, she also made her film debut as "Lisette Linares" in the movie "I Like It Like That" alongside Rita Moreno and Jon Seda. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and The Desi Award in the category of "Best Actress". Among the T.V. series in which she has participated in are "Oz" and "City Hall" with Al Pacino.

In 1997, Lauren starred in "Buscando un Sueño" (In Search of a Dream), the first Spanish speaking film sanctioned by SAG.

Loraine besides participating in Broadway's Dreamgirls, also participated in the Off-Broadway production of "Does A Tiger Have A Necktie".

In 1999, Loraine went to London, United Kingdom. There she participated in the production of "RENT" where she was cast as "Mimi" the uderstudy. She returned to the United States in 2001. That same year Loraine was cast as "Tutu" in the film "Piñero", starring Benjamin Bratt and Talisa Soto. In 2002, she played the role of "Abby Bishop" in the T.V. series "Law and Order".

Currently both sisters continue to make T.V. appearances.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans