Biography

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ortiz grew up in Orlando, Florida. An early love of dancing led to roles in local theater productions. As her interest in theatre and acting grew, Valery eased out of dancing and began focusing on acting. Eventually, she enrolled in the University of Central Florida to obtain a Bachelor's in Fine Arts Degree.

After a hosting gig for Nickelodeon's Splat! ended, Valery took a road trip to Los Angeles for a two-week vacation and ended up relocating permanently when she quickly started working on a local television show called LATV Live as a VJ. She was next cast in one of her most memorable roles to date in the cult comedy hit 'Date Movie' as Jell-O, a Jennifer Lopez impersonator.

Over the years, Ortiz has worked on several popular television series. She starred as Raquel on VH1's one-hour scripted series 'Hit the Floor', Madison Duarte, on the groundbreaking teen drama 'South of Nowhere', and more recently, Dina Duran on the live action-comedy series 'Gabby Duran and The Unsittables' on Disney Channel.

Valery completed production on the feature film 'Skeletons In The Closet' starring opposite Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding, Jr. & Clifton Powell along with a starring role in the Lifetime movie 'Cloudy With A Chance Of Christmas' directed by Jake Helgren. She recently won Best Supporting actress for her role in the indie feature 'Isabel's Garden' directed by Kit Rich. Off screen, Valery gives fans some unpaid therapy girl talk on her podcast, 'Your Unpaid Therapists' with friend Alikona Bradford. She is also enthusiastically working on sharing her love of fitness on her new YouTube Channel.

In her free time, Valery enjoys reading, decorating, writing and pushing herself to new heights in fitness. She also enjoys lending her time to different charities and organizations. Ortiz currently resides in Los Angeles.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Ranked one of the Top 25 Hottest Latinas of 2006 in MAXIM en Espanol.

Keeps in contact with former South of Nowhere (2005) cast-mates Austen Parros, Aasha Davis, Gabrielle Christian, Mandy Musgrave and Matt Cohen.